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' HISTORY OF THE FENS 



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SOUTH LINCOLNSHIRE, 



BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THE 



RIVERS WITHAM AND WELLAND AND THEIR ESTUARY ; AND 
AN ACCOUNT OF THE RECLAMATION AND DRAINAGE OF 
THE FENS ADJACENT THERETO.. 



j^ 



.-r^ BY 



W. H. WHEELEE, 

CIVIL ENGINEER. 



BOSTON : 
J. M. NEWCOMB, PRINTER AND BOOKSELLER, 

MARKET PLACE. 

LONDON : 

SIMPiaN, MARSHALL, AND CO., 

1868. 



ZH J<<l^h^ f^ /■> -C 



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CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE FENS. 

CHAPTER n. 

THE RIVER WITHAM AND THE FENS ADJACENT THERETO. 

CHAPTER m. 

THE EAST, WEST, AND WILDMORE FENS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

HOLLAND FEN AND THE BLACK SLUICE DISTRICT. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE RIVER WELLAND, CROWLAND, AND DEEPING FEN. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE ORIGIN AND CONSTITUTION OF THE COURT OF SEWERS. 

CHAPTER Vn. 

BOSTON HARBOUR AND HAVEN. 

CHAPTER VIH. 

THE ESTUARY, WITH AN ACCOUNT OP THE VARIOUS SCHEMES WHICH 
HAVE BEEN BROUGHT FORWARD FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE 
OUTFALL IN CONNECTION WITH THE DRAINAGE AND NAVIGATION. 

PLAN OF TflE FENS AND THE ESTUARY. 






PREFACE. 



The author having lately had occasion to examine the 
documents relating to the Outfall of the Drainage of the 
Fens, was induced by the interest of the subject to extend 
his researches into the various works which bear upon their 
general history and reclamation, and collected together a 
number of facts and statistics sufficient to enable him to 
complete a short history of the Fens of this part of the 
County of Lincoln, which appeared in a series of papers 
contributed to the Stamford Mercury during the Autumn 
of last year. He considers that an account of the means 
which have been adopted for the drainage and enclosure of 
250,000 acres of land, a space larger than some of the 
English counties, which from having been little better than 
a mere morass, has become one of the richest tracts of agri- 
cultural land in the country, must of itself be interesting, 
however badly the subject may be treated by the author. 
These papers pretend to no originality or literary merit 
whatever, but are simply a collection of facts compiled 
from various works that in any way treat of the subject, 
many of which are out of print; and the reports of engineers, 
and other official documents, not accessible to the general 
public. No complete account of the later history of these 
Fens exists. The earlier history has been partially described 
by Sir W. Dugdale, in his treatise on Embanking and Drain- 
ing, and much interesting matter, bearing on the subject, is 



VI. 



to be found in Elstob's History of the Bedford Level, and 
Ingulpli's History of Crowland. Mr. Thompson has also 
devoted a short space to the Fens ; hut the design of his 
work, being confined to a History of the Town of Boston, 
embraces only a brief outline of the Fen history. From these 
and various other sources the author has collected his infor- 
mation, and whenever practicable has preferred to use the 
language of the author he has quoted to that of his own. 
The History is intended to commence with a full account of 
the last successful attempt to reclaim the Fens, but in order 
to render the subject more clear the first chapter will be 
devoted to a sketch of the original formation of the district 
and the various changes it has undergone ; the second chap- 
ter will be devoted to the KiverWitham and the Fens adjacent 
thereto ; the third to the East, West, and Wildmore Fens ; 
the fourth to the Holland Fen and the Black Sluice district • 
the fifth to the Welland and Deeping Fen; the sixth contains 
an account of the origin and constitution of the Court of 
Sewers; the seventh relates to Boston Harbour and Haven; 
and the last to the Estuary, and the various schemes 
which have been brought forward for "its improvement in 
connection with the drainage and navigation. 

The accompanying Plan, reduced from the Ordnance Map, 
has been corrected and adapted by the author specially for 
this book. 

Boston, February, 1868. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION AND EARLY HISTORY OP THE FENS. 

The Great Level of the Fens comprises all that vast tract of 
land on the east coast, extending southwards, from the high lands 
in Lincolnshire, for a distance of about 60 miles, and occupying 
portions of six counties. It is only the history of the northern 
portion that will be sketched out in these papers, or that part 
bounded on the north by the Steeping river and the villages of 
Toynton, Revesby, and the city of Lincoln ; on the west by the 
Car Dyke ; and on the south by the river Welland ; and com- 
prising the East, West, and Wildmore Fens, the lands adjacent 
to the Witham, known as the six districts, Holland Fen and the 
Black Sluice Level, and Deeping Fen and the lands on the north 
of the Welland. 

The Fens have obtained a world-wide notoriety, and a general 
though very erroneous impression prevails, among those who have 
not visited this county, that Lincolnshire is a dull and dreary 
land, to be avoided by all whom necessity or the calls of business 
do not compel to visit its unattractive scenery. But although the 
fens include an area of about 500,000 acres (equal in extent tO' 
some of the English counties), there yet remains of Lincolnshire 
about one and a quarter millions of acres, which can vie with 
any other part of England for the picturesqueness of its scenery 
and the salubrity of the climate ; while the rich grazing and 
corn lands of the fens stand unrivalled for their productiveness, 
and are cultivated by inhabitants whose condition, general 
physique, and health will bear very favourable comparison with 
any other district of Great Britain. 



The original formation of tlie soil of these fens, although recent 
in the geological classification, takes us back to a time anterior to 
the existence of man, when the whole of this district was beneath 
the waters of the sea. For a depth of nearly 600 feet nothing 
has b^n discovered but an aqueous deposit of clay mixed with 
shells and stones. At the time when this history commences, 
this deposit had accumulated to such a height as to be above the 
ordinary tides, and only the lower portion of the Fens, or the 
parts nearest to the sea, were under ordinary circumstances over- 
flowed by their action. Possibly trees had already grown to a 
considerable size on the higher portion, or that furthest removed 
from the sea ; and on spots here and there in the lower parts, 
which had risen higher than the rest — as we see in the villages of 
Stickney and Sibsey at the present day ; — and these were doubtless 
inhabited by the aborigines of the island. The rest was covered 
with coarse grass, sometimes available for pasturage, and at 
others inundated in turns by the overflowings of the rivers and 
the tides. The land at this time was peopled by the Britons, a 
rude, uncultivated race of men. Their rehgion was one that 
sought the solitudes of woods and dark groves for the observance 
of their mysterious and sometimes sanguinary rites, and probably 
the priests availed themselves of the secret recesses of the Fens 
for the erection of their altars. 

In the year 55 e.g. the Roman Generals, ever seeking fresh 
conquests to add laurels to their arms, first sought out and 
invaded the island of Britain, and having once obtained a footing 
found the country so profitable that they remained here for a 
period of nearly 500 yeai'S. While we look to the sober pages of 
historical facts for a correct knowledge of the doings of bygone 
days, it is pleasing to aljow our imagination to be assisted in 
realising the events those facts disclose by a perusal of the works 
of writers of fiction, who have endeavoured to render our ancient 



9 

history a true and living picture. All who take a delight in this 
class of literature will call to mind the charming and vivid 
description of Esca, the British chieftain, a slave at Kome, and 
the old Eoman general, who was reminded by the presence of 
his Saxon attendant of his buried loves and hopes in the far off 
woods of conquered Britain, where all his glorious deeds of arms 
were saddened by the recollection of the fair haired maiden he 
had seen and wooed in the British forest. 

The Romans having once firmly established themselves in the 
island, maintained their conquest by the presence of a large force, 
which was stationed at several military depots, scattered through- 
out the country. Of these Lincoln became the head quarters of 
the midland district, or that part of the country then inhabited by 
the Coritani. The thorough knowledge and appreciation of 
agricultural arts, ever so prominent in the Romans, would lead 
them at once to see the value of the large tract of fen land lying 
so near their station ; and the experience they had acquired in 
enclosing and drahiing, about this time, similar tracts of marsh 
land in the south of Italy, and also in the Belgian Provinces, and 
in constructing through the Pomptine fens a large cut, which 
served the double purpose of a sewer and a canal, would at once 
suggest to them the feasibility of reclaiming the great level of the 
fens. The labour necessary in carrying out the work would 
provide ample employment for their soldiers and captives ; it 
being ever a practice with the Roman generals to keep the legions 
from idleness and discontent by constant employment ;"= and by 

* Probiis prevented the irregularities of the soldiers by enii)loyino; the legions in 
constant and useful labours WIumi he commanded in Enypt, Probus'executed many 
considerable works for the si)lendour of that rich coun'try. Tlie navij^^ation of the 
Nile was improved, and temples, bridj^es, porticoes, and jjalaces were constructed by 
the hands of the soldiers, who acted by turns as architects, as engineers, and as 
husbandmen. It was reported of Hannibal that, in order to preserve his troops from 
the dangerous temptations of idleness, he had obliged them to form large plantations 
of olive trees along the Coast of Africa .... He thus converted into tillage a 

large and unhealthy tract of marsh ground near Sirmium In one of the 

hottest days of summer, as he severely urged the unwholesome labour of draining 
the marshes of ISirmium, the soldiers, impatient of fatigue, on a sudden threw down 
their tools, grasped their swords, and broke out in a^ fiuious mutiny, and finally 
murdered the unfortunate Emperor. Gibbon, cap. XII 

£ 



10 

this salutary rule they had ever at their disposal a mighty force 
which enabled them to carry out those vast engineering works, 
the traces of which, even at the present day, are to be found in 
every country which they subdued. 

Another powerful motive that would lead to the embanking of 
the fens doubtless arose from the security they afforded to the 
natives, who, as related by Marcellinus, "not dwelling in the 
towns but in cottages within fenny places, compassed with thick 
woods, having hidden whatsoever they had most estimation of, 
did more annoyance to the wearied Romans than they received 
from them." In lact the fens formed a sort of camp of refuge 
for the Britons, as later they did to the Saxons, where it would 
be impossible for any militaiy force to follow and dislodge them ; 
and it is evident the Romans could neither pasture their cattle on 
the marshes nor enjoy any security for their property until the 
natives were hunted out of their retreats. 

Having once undertaken the reclamation of the watery waste, 
the Romans proceeded in the most skilful and artistic manner, 
pursuing a course that has been taken as a model b}' the engineers 
of modern times, being adopted by Mr. Rennie in his scheme 
for the drainage of the East and "West Fens. The work divided 
itself into two parts — the embanking, to shut out the sea water ; 
and the draining, to void the rainfall falling on the surface of the 
enclosed land, and also poured on to it from the higher gi'ound 
adjacent. To etiect this latter object a large catchwater drain 
was made, skirting the borders of the fens, intercepting the water 
from the high lands, and preventing it pouring on to and in- 
undating the fen. This cut commenced near Lincoln, com- 
municating with the Witham, and extended along the whole 
western side of the fens till it joined the Welland, and thence 
continued to the Nene. It was made navigable, and afforded 
communication between Peterboro' and Lincoln, and also with 



11 

BhipB corainf? by soa, by moans of tho rivers None or Wltham, 
and gavo an caHy moans of IranKporting military stores and 
proviHi(jMS to their inland depots. The canal is known by tho 
name of the Car Dyke, and its course may be clearly traced at 
tho present day. Ample testimony to the wisdom that designed 
it is provided by the va,rioufi projects that have been brought 
forward by modern engineers for utilising such parts of it as 
passed through tho fens then immediately under their considera- 
tion. Tho course of another artificial cut or drain may be traced 
in the " Westlode," which drained the low lands towards Crowland 
and Deeping Fen and emptied into the Welland. 

The drainage of the interior of the fens was provided by other 
cuts, the remains of which are scarcely to be traced now, but 
there is no doubt tho Old Hammond Beck was one of these. 
Those interior drains, which discharged their contents into the 
rivers, were protected by sluices, but the rivers themselves wore 
embanked and tho tides allowed to have their free course, ships 
navigating the Witham as far as Lincoln. 

The sea was shut out from overflowing the low lands by thoso 
stupendous embankments which surround tho level, and on the 
integrity of which, at this very time, depends the safety of all 
this district. One breach in these banks, and in a few hours 
property to an enormous amount would immediately bo destroyed, 
and the land rendered a scene of desolation. These embank- 
ments, as viewed at the present day, give but little idea of the 
magnitude of tho labour involved in their construction. To form 
a more correct estimate, it must be borne in mind that since 
that time the land has been raised several feet in height, and tho 
base of them, whicli at the period of their erection stood above 
the surrounding ground, now forms part of it. The banks 
enclosing the portion of the great level to which this history is 
confined extend to a length of upwards of 50 miles— at so great 



12 

an expMiditnro of time nnd labour was this land reclaimed from 
tlio sea. 

The groat care of the Komans, after havini;" thoroughly 
embanked and drained the land, was to provide the moans of 
easy communication by the construction of roads. These were 
not formed on the principle followod by the reclaimers of the fens 
of our gonoration. ayIui dot inod it suthciont to leaYe a wide space 
and call it a rond, but wore constructed in Iho most solid nnd 
substantial manner, with brick and stones cemented together, and 
laid in regular courti'es. with a concrete foundation, and so solidly 
and Ih-mly were they built that traces are constantly being dis- 
covered in a complete state of preservation. The chief road 
passing through this disti'ict was a loop line of the Great Nortli- 
road, or Ermin-sti*eet, which after crossing the river None, 
pursued a N.E. course through Thurlby, Bourn, towards Sleaford, 
and thouoo through Kuskington, Dorrington, Blankney, and 
Metheringham, to Lincoln, whore it joined the main lino. 

Another road, across the country from the salt mines in 
"Worcestershire is supposed to have passed through the fens by 
Bolingbroke, Stickford, Sibsey, and so to Boston, and across the 
Witham by a ferry near Redstone Gowt, thence to K'rton and 
Donington, and so on in a straight line till it joined the branch 
above-described. The remains of tliis roiid may bo cleai'ly traced 
in the Bridge-end causeway, and by a foundation of stone and 
gravel which has been laid bai"e throughout its course ; as also 
by milestones, one of which, near the Pincushion inn at "Wyberton, 
remained in existence until quite recently. 

The land, tluis embanked, drained, and provided with roads, 
soon became fertile and covered with vegetation and ti'ees, which 
appeixr from the remains thjvt have been discovered to have nour- 
ished more vigorously in those days than they have under the 



13 

more recent reclamation. BeRides thus affording employment and 
subsistence to the Roman colonist, this part of the country doubt- 
less also provided materials for export to the mother countr}', both 
manufactured and in their natural state. Of the latter kind, some 
of the British oysters, which were held in such great esteem by 
the epicures of the imperial city, were probably taken from their 
beds in the '* Metaris Estuarim," known in modern days as Boston 
Deeps ; and of the former it is supposed by some antiquaries that 
the salt pans, the remains of which have been discovered on many 
parts of this coast, are due to the art and industry of the Romans. 
The practice of manufacturing salt, by evaporating sea water in 
pans or reservoirs dug on the margin of a tid;il stream, is exceed- 
ingly ancient, and the known skill and ability with which the 
Romans availed themselves of every opportunity of turning to 
good account the gifts of nature, may fairly lead us to suppose 
that they would adopt so simple a means of providing themselves 
with a supply of a commodity as valuable and scarce as salt was 
in those days. It is certain from the menlion in many old Saxon 
chronicles of the numerous grants of land in which salt pans are 
mentioned, that their successors knew of this method of making 
salt, and that it was highly prized by them, great quantities being 
used for salting meat for their winter store of food. 

After an occupation of upwards of 400 years, about the year 
A.D. 420, the Romans were obliged to withdraw their legions from 
Britain to assist in the defence of their own country. The same 
cause that effected the decline and fall of the Roman empire led 
to the occupation of this island by uncultivated and warhke 
Saxons. The movement amongst the Teutonic Nations of central 
Europe, which scattered them in all directions in quest of plunder 
and conquest, while leading the great body of that nation to the 
rich booty to be obtained in the cities of Italy, also sent the 
Saxons across the water to the neighbouring shores of Britain, 



14 

which, deprived of its protectors, fell an easy prey to their preda- 
tory bands. Having once conquered the island they permanently 
settled hero. 

The Fens, lately so flourishing, soon became once more a scene 
of desolation. Tradition says that the Saxons, in their contests 
with the Britains, cut the banks and drowned the land on purpose ; 
but even if this were not wilfully done, it is easy to conceive how 
soon the banks and sluices would go to decay and ruin, if neg- 
lected, and how rapidly the whole fen would become a mere morass 
covered daily by the tides, if they were not kept up. That no 
such attention and vigilance would be bestowed on them by the 
invaders we can easily conceive by the knowledge that history gives 
us of their character and barbarous habits at the time of their 
incursion. While the rudest dwellings sufficed to content them, 
war and plunder, perpetual quarrels and tights, occupied all their 
time ; and while it is doubtful if they were possessed of knowledge 
and skill sufficient to maintain the engineering works constructed 
by their predecessors, it is certain they would hold in contempt 
the arts and practice of agriculture, for which purpose alone the 
fens were adapted. 

For 20l) years after the departure of the Romans the waters 
were allowed to have full dominion over the fens. The rivers, 
obstructed in their outfalls, prevented the rain-fall from flowing 
away, and the water, stagnating on the ground, made the whole 
a vast morass ; the coarse grasses and herbage that sprang up in 
the summer months decayed away in the winter, and assisted in 
forming that layer of peat which is found more or less throughout 
the whole surface of the fens, but much deeper in the upper part, 
or that furthest removed from the sea. The eruption of the 
tides, through the broken i)anks, swept away at once all the signs 
of former prosperity, and the numerous trees, washed up by the 
roots, that have been found buried in the fen soil, attest to the 



15 

power with which tho torrent of waters devastated the land. Thus 
while tho upland waters assisted in raising the surface by tho 
formation of peat, tho tides brought in a great quantity of silt 
and alluvial soil, which was deposited to a depth of from 12 to 
18 feet at tho parts near the mouths of the rivers, gradually 
diminishing towards tho interior and higher grounds to a depth 
of from one to three feet. Numerous discoveries which havo 
been made in excavations at dillcrent times in all parts of tho 
Great Level bear witness to the correctness of this theory as to 
the formation of the upper stratum of tho fens, of which tho 
follov;ing are selected as samples : — In the excavations made for 
the erection of the Black Sluice, at Boston, in 1847, the first 12 
feet was found to bo warp, fermed by a deposit of a reddish 
brown clay, Icfft evidently by the sea ; this rested on another 
layer of warj), live foot in thickness ; which was followed by a 
stratum of peat 12 to 18 inches in thickness, in which were 
contained tlie remains of oak and oihor trees ; below the peat 
was a layer of sand, and below this was the clay found every- 
where beneath tho fens, and which has been bored through, in 
Boston, to a d(iptli of 555 feet. A well sunk at Sutton displayed 
a similar stratilication ; the first 10 feet was clayey warp, then 
came 8 to 4 feet of moor or peat ; then ^0 feet of soft moor 
mixed with shells and silt ; then, for a distance of 05 feet, clay 
mixed with chalk stones ; and below that gravel. 

In digging for the foundations of tho Grand Sluice, Boston, in 
1764, at about 18 feet below the surface, the roots of several trees 
standing as they had grown were found ; and also at about the samo 
depth, a layer of shells of a kind similar to those found in tlie marsh 
creeks at the present time. In the excavations for Mjiud Foster 
sluice, in Skirbeck, there was found at IG feet below the surface 
a smith's forge with all the tools belonging to it. In lO'JO, on 
the Welland, about 10 feet below the surface, the remains of old 



16 

tan vats were discovered, and great quantities of hoins and shoe 
solos of strange and unusual forms ; also a number of boats. 
(EUtob's History of the Bedford Level.) At' Lynn a cartwheel 
was found 16 feet below the surface. In other parts of the fens 
great trees, swarths of grass, and other indications of cultivation 
have been found buried in silt and warp. While thus those dis- 
coveries clearly show that the surface has been raised near the 
outfalls of the rivers to a height of from 10 to 18 feet, the remains 
of trees, &c., crop up nearer to the surface the further they are 
removed from the coast. Thus at Bardney, Mr. Edwards in his 
survey in 17(39 gives the ibllowing account of the formation of 
the groimd : — *' Bodiam sands, near Bardney, lie about three 
feet and a half below the surface of the adjacent lands. They 
consist of a thin bed of sand upon a bed of strong blue clay, full 
of large coggles and stones, on which bed was found a great 
number of oak, yew, and alder roots and trees which had grown 
thereon. The soil on each side is moory and full of subterranean 
wood to three and a half feet thick. The oak roots stand upon 
the sand, and tap-root in the cLi}''. Some of the trees are live 
feet in diameter at the boll, and more than ten feet from out to 
out at the root." One large tree was discovered at Bardney 
containing 1410 feet of timber. This tree was found three feet 
below the surf\ice, lying upon clay and gravel, and covered with 
peat. In Friskuey, Wainlleet, and Wrangle, and in the East 
Fen, great numbers of fir trees with their roots have been dis- 
covered in the moory soil, one foot below the surface in the low 
parts, and from two to six feet in the higher lands. They lie in 
all directions, and appear to have been torn up b}- the operation 
of water. 

In the excavations for tlie foundation of the engines and sluice 
now being constructed at Lade Bank, in the East Fen, at four 
feet below the surl\ice a layer of peat about six inches in thick- 



17 

ness was exposed ; below this was throo foot of soft blue clay, 
and thon again a layer of poat with piocoH of trees buried in it. 
This last lajer nssted on a bed of hard cliiy iiitorsporsed with 
chalk stones, and tliis continued as far as tlio borings extended, 
about thirty feet below the surface. 

From tho formation of the soil and these discoveries, it is 
evident that the whole surface of tho fens must have boon con- 
eiderably raised by decaying vegetation and aqueous deposits 
spread over a long series of years. The trees prove that this 
deposit took place after tho land had boon protected from tho salt 
water ; and tho shoo solos, smith's forgo, and other articles of 
civilised life all denote a period posterior to tho occupation of 
the island by tho llomans. 

Tho first returning signs of prosperity prol)ubly date from a 
period of 'ZOO years after tho departure of tho Romans, when Pope 
Gregory, touched by the beauty of the fair complexion and 
blooming countenances of some English youths exposed for sale in 
the streets of Rome, and finding their native religion was tluit of 
Paganism, expressed his conviction that it was a pity that tho 
prince of darkness should enjoy so fair a prey, and that so 
beautiful a frontispiece should cover minds destitute of internal 
grace and righteousness. Ho theroforo sent Hi. Augustine, with 
forty other monks, to spread the knowledge of Christianity 
amongst the Saxons and Britons ; and so successful was 
their mission that the doctrines of Christianity soon became 
deeply rooted throughout the whole of England. f Hume's 
History of Kmfland). Amongst other monks who followed 
the footsteps of St. Augustine was one Guthlac, a holy man 
of God, who, seeking a place more desolate than any other 
whereto ho might retire and pursue his holy meditations, came to 
Crowland, and finally settled there. His reputation for holiness 
soon attracted other monks, and ultimately a monastery waa 



18 

'established. The fens around are described by his biographer 
*' as immense marshes, now a black pool of water, now foul 
running streams, and also many islands and reeds and hillocks, 
and witli manifold windings, wide and long, it continues up to the 
North Sea." The fenny nature of the soil gave this place its 
name, as the meaning of the word is '* crude" and "muddy" 
land. Ciowland soon became a place of note in the kingdom, 
and about the year 716 Ethelbakl, king of the Mercians, having 
been instructed by the counsels and prevailed upon by the prayers 
of the devout anchorite Guthlac, his dearly-beloved confessor, 
gave, granted, and delivered unto Almighty God and the blessed 
Virgin and Saint Bai-tholomew out of his demesnes, for the 
purpose of founding a monastery of black monks, the whole island 
of Crowland, the same to be set apart for the site of an abbey ; 
and also gi'anted from his treasury the sum of £oOO towards the 
building of the same, and an annual payment of £100, with 
libeii-y to the monks to enclose as much of the mai-sh land as 
they should see fit. Other monasteries were established by the 
Saxons on the Witham. St. Botolph, in the year 654, built one 
on a desert piece of gi'ouud, near its mouth, supposed to be the 
site of the present town of Boston, and another was established 
at Bardney about the year 697. Saint Guthlac became the 
patron saint of the fens, and the numerous churches that are 
dedicated to his memory attest the esteem and popularity of the 
first Christian reclaimer of this part of England. In a niche in 
the wall of the parish church of Fishtoft is a statue of St. 
Guthlac, its patron saint ; and there is a tradition connected with 
this statue that so long as the whip, the usual insignia of the 
saint, remained in his hand, the parish of Fishtoft should not be 
infested with rats and mice, (lliompson^s History). 

A love of desolation and seclusion, the old Chronicles tell us, 
was St. Guthlac's motive in seeking the fens for his residence. 



19 

His followers probably were attracted by other motives, amongst 
which may have been the valuable fisheries to be found in the fen 
rivers, which, anterior to their coming, had been of little benefit 
to the natives, for we are informed that the Saxons learnt the art 
of catching fish from the Romans. The art once acquired, fish 
became such a favorite food that the supply never equalled the 
demand. Turner, in his History of the Anglo-Saxons, thus refers 
to the value of fisheries: — "The Saxons eat various kinds of 
fish, but of this description of food the species that is most pro- 
fusely noticed is the eel. They used eels as abundantly as swine. 
Two grants are mentioned, each yielding one thousand eels, and 
by another 2000 were received as an annual rent ; 4000 eels 
were an annual present from the monks of Ramsey to those of 
Peterboro'. We read of two places, purchased for £21, wherein 
16,000 of these fish were caught every year ; and in one charter 
twenty fishermen are stated to have furnished during the same 
period 60,000 eels to the monastery." In the dialogues composed 
by Elfric to instruct the Anglo-Saxon youths, giving an account 
of the fisheries, the following are mentioned as forming the food 
of the people : eels, haddocks, skate, lampreys, and whatever 
swims in the river ; and as the products of the sea, herrings, 
salmon, porpoises, sturgeons, oysters and crabs, mussels, cockles, 
and such like. Both the Witham and Welland were celebrated 
for their fish, and doubtless afforded many a dainty meal to the 
abstemious abbots and monks residing in the various establish- 
ments founded on their banks. 

Mr. Morton, in his History of the Lincolnshire Churches, 
remarks : " It must not be supposed that monasteries were always 
places of corrupted morals. On their first introduction their 
members were laborious men who drained marshes, cleared woods, 
cultivated wastes, and protected the country from the wolves, then 
numerous." A colony of monks, in small numbers at first, 



20 

transported themselves into some uncultivated place, and there, 
as missionaries and labourers at once, in the midst of a people as 
yet pagan, they accomphshed their douWe task with as much of 
danger as of toil. 

As these monasteries increased in size and importance, they 
attracted numerous retainers and servants, and attention would be 
given by the owners of the abbey lands to the improvement of the 
fens around. The establishment of Mercia, in which Lincolnshire 
was included, into a separate kingdom about this time, and its 
consequent prosperity, would also assist in the restoration of the 
fens to some degree of their former prosperity. In the year 870, 
the marshes, as they were then termed, are described by Hugo 
Candidus as furnishing wood and turf for fire, hay for cattle, reeds 
for thatching, and fish and water fowl for subsistence. 

A temporary stop was put to this growing prosperity by the 

Danes, who in their various predatory incursions into England 

selected this part of the east coast as their favourite landing 

place. The following account of the invasion of the fens, by 

the Danes, in the year 870, the fourth of their residence in 

England, is given by Sharon Turner : — 

" They embarked on tlie Humber, and sailing to Lincolnshire landed at 
Ilmnberston, in Liudsey. After destroying the monastery, and slaying all 
the monks of Bardney, they employed the summer in desolating the country 
around with sword and fire. About IMichaolmas they passed the Witham, and 
entered the district of Kesteven. The Earl Algar drew out the youth of 
Holland : his two seneschals, Wilbert and Leofric, assembled from Deeping, 
Langtoft, and Baston, 300 valiant and well-appointed men ; 200 more joined 
him from Croyland monastery : they were composed of fugitives, and led by 
Tolius, who had assumed the cowl, but who, previous to entering the sacred 
profession, had been celebrated for his military character. Morcar, lord of 
Briume (Bourne), added his family, who were undaunted and numerous. 
Osgot, the sheritf of Lincoln, collected 500 more from the inhabitants of the 
country. These patriots, not 3000 in number, united in Kesteven, with the 
daring hope of chocking by their valour the progress of the ferocious invaders. 
On the feast of St. Maurice they attacked the advanced bauds of the north 
men with such conspicuous bravery that they slew three of their kings and 



21 

many of tlioir soldiers : they chased the rest to the gates of their entrench- 
ments, and notwithstanding a fierce resistance they assailed these till the 
advance of night compelled the valiant Earl to call off his noble army. The 
English, ultimately beaten, the Danes burned and destroyed all the towns and 
villages, — ravaged and destroyed Croyland Abbey ; the venerable Abbot was 
hewed down at the altar, and the Prior and the rest of the monks murdered ; 
all the tombs and monuments broken, and the ' superb edifice' devoured by 
fire ; having accomplished which they set out for Peterborough. The Danes 
were finally defeated in 878, a-nd Alfred the Great re-ascended the throne of 
England. The monks returned to their ruined homes, which they soon set 
about re-building, and although during the intervening period of the Norman 
Conquest several incursions were made by the Danes, in which the fen men 
were engaged, no special fact is recorded by history which throws any light 
on the state and condition of the fens during this period." 

On the floor of the chancel of Algarldrk Church is a monument 
on which is carved the full length figure of a man in alto-relievo, 
which Stukely states to be that of the Earl Algar here mentioned, 
and from whom the Parish takes its name. 

At the time of and subsequent to the Conquest of the Island by 
"William of Normandy, the fens became the refuge of the discon- 
tented Saxons ; or as Dugdale puts it, ''This land is environed 
with fens and reed plecks — unpassable ; so that they feared not 
the invasion of an enemy, and in consequence of the strength of 
this place by reason of the said water encompassing it, divers of 
the principal nobility of the English nation had recourse into it as 
their greatest refuge against the strength and power of the Norman 
Conqueror." The fenny districts of the kingdom of Mercia had 
always been a country difficult to conquer, and the habitation of 
a people still more difficult to keep in subjection ; and these 
districts now became the * camps of refuge ' to the scattered and 
discomfited Saxons. When William the Conqueror had subdued 
all the rest of England, a brave body of men in the fens still refused 
him allegiance : their remote situation and solitary habits made 
them conservative of their ancient rights and privileges, and 
zealous in their allegiance to their liege lords and masters. " It 
is men of this kind, whose position gives them more natural 



22 

seciirit}* than tluir neighbours, and cousoqnontly more iudopond- 

cnco, who have boon found tJio hist to bo oouquorod in every 

country where tlieir subjugation has been attempted. What the 

rock and defde were to tlie mountaineer, the reed tkdd and more 

were to the ten man — his home, tlie sour.'e of his subsistence, and 

his defence in seasons oi' oppression or misfortune. " Under 

HereNvard. son of Leofric, liord of Bourne, many a bold tight 

was made for hberty against the usurpers. Ivo of TaiUebois, 

AVilham of Ghent, and other Normans, to whom King Wilham had 

given the hind of the Saxons ; and driven by the conquerors from 

phice to phice they at hist made tlie IsU^ o^ Ely their tinal camp of 

refuge, where were collected many of the principal Saxon liobility 

and ecclesiastics. Long and nobly did Hereward, by his sagacity, 

bnivery, and self-devotedness baffle all the attempts of tlie Normans 

to obtain possession oi the stronghold. The deeds of Herewai'd 

long lived in the traditions of the people, and have come down to 

our day in tlie narratives of the ancient chronicles, and have lately 

been revived by a modern writer in the graphic and touching 

romance of Hereward the last of the English ( C. Kiiioslcif), in 

which tlie writer shows a knowledge of tlie old fen country in 

Saxon times, such as only one who had studied the old chronicles 

could give. One short quotation from this interesting work may 

here be given, as descriptive of the fen country between BoiU'u 

and Crowhmd. 

" Horowaiii had just roturnocl from Flanders to his native conutxy, and 
arriving at Bouruo. the homo of his ivucostors, he linds the plaee besieged, and 
on enquiring what has happened is answered, ' What has happened makes 
free Englishmen's blood boil to tell of. Here. Sir Knight, three days ago. 
came in this Frenchman with some twenty rulViaus of his own, and more of 
one Taillebois too to see him safe ; says that this new King, this base-born 
Frenchman, has given away all Earl Morcar's lauds, and that Bourne is his ; 
kills a man or two ; upsets the women : gets drunk, ratties, and roysters ; 
breaks into my lady's bower, calUug her to give up her keys, and when she 
gives them will have all her jewels too. She faces them like a brave Princess, 
and two of the hounds lay hold of her, and say that she shall ride through 



28 

Boumo as hHo rode ihroM{j]i Coventry. The boy Godwin — he lliat was the 
j^rcttt Karl's godsoji, our luHt hope — draws sword on tliem, and he, a }>oy of IfJ 
Bumniers, kills them both out of hand ; the rest set on him, cut hiw head ofT, 
and there it Hticks on Utc (^ahle Hpike to tliis hour.' Hereward, enraf.^;d 
beyo)id enduranee by thin and other accounts of the evilH tliat had fallen on 
his country, his family, and his friends, rushed down to the hall, where were 
asseinbled the Frenchmen eiif^af^ed in drunken revelry, and with his own hand 
slays tlie whole of the guard left in charge of liourne, fourteen in number. 
The next day he set out for Crowland Abbey with his mother, the Princess 
Godiva, and they went down to the water and took barge, and laid the corjjKC 
of young <'i(idwin therein ; and they rowed away for Crowland by many a 
mere and many an ea ; through narrow reaches of clear brown glassy water ; 
between the dark green ablers ; between the pale green reeds, where the boot 
clanked and the bittern boomed, and the sedge bird, not content with its own 
sweet song, mocked the song of all the birds around ; and then out into the 
broad lagoons, where hung motionless high over head hawk beyond hawk, 
buzzard beyond buzzard, kite beyond kite, as far as the eye could see. Into 
the air as they rowed on whirred up the great Hkeinw of wild fowl innumerable, 
with a cry as of all the bells of Crowland, or all the hounds of liruneKwold ; 
and clear above all the noise sonrnbd tiie wild whistle of the curlews, and the 
trumpet note of the great white swan ; out of the reeds, like an arrow, shot 
the peregrine, Hingl(;d one lucklesH mallard from the Hock, caught him up, 
struck him stone dead with one blow of his terrible heel, and swept his prey 
with him into the reeds again." 

The King having at last Hubducd Ely, the fen men, in common 
with the rest of England, had to nnbrnit to the conquering arm of 
Wilham of Normandy, and the country was parcelled out amongst 
his followers, the land in this district being chiefly shared by Allan 
Kufus, Earl of Brittany and Richmond, Walter D'Eincourt, Guy 
de Creon or Croun, and Gilbert de Gaunt. The Ear] of Brittany 
had his chief residence at Kirton, and there is reason to suppose 
that the Earl of Richmond had a seat in the parish of Boston, 
prior to the thirteenth century. Walter D'Eincourt also had a 
residence at Kirton, although the head of his barony was at 
Blankney; Guy de Croun resided at Freiston. And so the Norman 
blood became mingled with that of the Saxons of the fens, as the 
old {j}^'"il, men of " Gyras" — a word which signifies a '' deep fen" — 
had^i^^ted^^ crossed with the blood of Scandinavian Vikings in 



24 

Canute's conquest ; and mixed with the descendants of Britons 
and invading Romans and Danes, and afterwards with French 
refugees, Huguenots from the persecutions of the CathoHcs. 
Vermujden's Dutchmen again added the characteristics of another 
land, and left behind them marks of their country's manner that 
may yet be traced. 

In Cromwell's time a number of Scotch prisoners, from the 
battle of Dunbar, and also Dutchmen taken in the naval engage- 
ment, in which Admiral Blake gained his glorious victory over the 
Dutch Admiral Van Tromp, were sent to work on the dykes and 
banks, many of whom settled down, and their descendants remain 
to the present day. To this strong intermixture of races, 
representing enterprising colonists, daring robbers, fierce soldiers, 
zealots who preferred expatriation to an abandonment of their 
particular tenets, the clean and steady Hollander, and the clear- 
headed and enterprising Scotchman, may be attributed that 
sturdy independence and self help, that freedom of thought and 
persevering industry and enterprise, which distinguish the 
inhabitants of the fens at the present day. 

After the Norman Conquest, and the settlement of the island, 
the religious establishments began greatly to multiply, and many 
of these were settled in the fen country, which was described as 
" being full of monasteries, and as having large bodies of monks 
settled on the islands of these waters " f William of Malmeshury) ; 
to whom were made grants of lands and rights of fishing, 
fowling, and turbary (digging turfs), which appear to have been 
considered of much value from the numerous disputes respecting 
these rights of which records exist. But although the idea of 
draining and reclaiming the fens was from time to time projected, 
and John of Gaunt Duke o^ Lancaster, who resided at Bolingbroke 
Castle, upon the borders of the fens, and who held conrpj^.[^'^(ble 
property within the level, and Margaret Countess of Ei throx id 



25 

took the matter in hand, nothing was actually done, and the 
chronicles inform us that " the generality of people in that age 
was possessed of an opinion that the project was utterly impossible 
to be brought about." 

Besides the fisheries, the fens also afforded harbour and shelter 
to the wild animals of the country, and King Henry the First 
afforested all the low lands of South Lincolnshire, which continued 
for many years to be the King's hunting grounds. The game 
protected consisted of " wild fowls and beasts of the forest, as 
the hart, hind, and hare ; of chase, as buck, doe, and fox ; of 
warren, as rabbit, pheasant, and partridge." 

The condition of the level seems to have been subject to 
constant changes ; at one time presenting every appearance of 
prosperity, and being described " as a very paradise and a heaven 
for the beauty and delight thereof, the very marshes bearing 
goodly trees." (]Villiam of Malmesbnry.) That it must have 
greatly increased in importance and prosperity is evidenced by 
the fact that in the year 1204 the town of Boston had grown into 
such importance as to have- a charter granted to it bji King John ; 
and it carried on at that time the manufacture of woollen cloth 
to a considerable extent. In the same century Holland Fen was 
ordered to be divided into townships. On the other hand there 
are frequent accounts of floods, and complaints of bad drainage. 
In 1281 Holland Fen was inundated, and in 1288 great part of 
Boston was drowned ; and Henry IH., taking notice that not 
only the land owners in those parts but himself had suffered 
considerable damage by the overflowing of the sea, and also of 
the fresh waters through default in the repair of the banks, sewers, 
and ditches, directed the shirereeve to distrain the goods of all 
land-owners who ought to have repaired the banks and scoured 
out the drains. And in the following reign commissioners were 
appointed to view the banks and sewers, and to see that the ancient 



26 

passages of the waters were kept open and the banks properly 
repaired. From this time forward numerous commissions were 
issued by the Crown for the Hke purpose, until the establishment 
of the Court of Sewers in the reign of King Henry VIII. 

Neglect was not the only cause which led to the inundation of 

the fens, for in the year 1385 one Rodger Pedwardine was accused 

of having cut the sea and river banks, and thereby inundated the 

low country. The struggle between the waters of the sea and the 

protecting works of man were constant and of varied success, and 

many a tale of devastation and ruin could be narrated from broken 

banks and an inundated country. One of the earliest since the 

Conquest that is recorded was 1178, when the old sea bank broke, 

and the whole fen country was deluged by the sea. Similar floods 

occurred in 1236, 1254, and 1257 ; and in 1287, through the 

vehemency of the wind and the violence of the sea, the monastery 

of Spalding and many churches were overthrown and destroyed. 

** All the whole country in the parts of Holland were for the most 

part turned into a standing pool, so that an intolerable multitude 

of men, woiilen, and children were ovei*\^^helmed with the water, 

especially in the town of Boston, a great part whereof was 

destroyed." (Stoivs Chronicle.) Again in 1467 a very serious 

flood occured, a calamity of some kind having previously been 

prognosticated by extraordinary apj)earances in the air, which are 

described by lugulphus with great minuteness, who is entitled to 

undoubted credence from the fact of an examination having been 

made into the subject before no less a personage than the Lord 

Archbishop of Canterbury. The same historian tells us '' that there 

wajj scarcely a house or building but what the waters made their 

way and flowed through it ; and this remained continuously during 

a whole month, the waters either standing there without flowing 

off, or else, being agitated by strong gusts of wind, swelled and 

increased still more and more day after day. Nor on this occasion 



27 

did the embankments offer any effectual resistance, but on the 
contrar}', though materials had been brought from other quarters 
for the purpose of strengthening them, they proved of very little 
service for that purpose. However diligently the work might have 
been attended to in the day time, as the water swelled and 
rose, the spot under repair was completely laid bare during the 
night." (Ingulphus.J 

A century later, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, another serious 
flood occurred, on the 5th of October, 1571 : owing to a violent 
tempest of wind and rain the whole country was flooded. An 
immense number of ships were wrecked on the coast. Churches 
and buildings were swept away, and many lives lost. At Mumby 
Chapel the whole town was lost, except three houses ; and the 
church was wholly overthrown except the steeple. A ship was 
driven upon a house, the sailors saving themselves by clinging to 
the roof; and the narrative adds to the romance by telhng us that 
** the sailors thought they had bin upon a rocke committed them- 
selves to God ; and three of the mariners lept out from the shippe 
and chaunced to take hold of the house toppe, and so saved 
themselves ; and the wife of the same lying in childbed did climb 
up into the top of the house, and was also saved by the mariners, 
her husband and child being both drowned." Holland, Leverington, 
Long Sutton, and Holbeach were all overflown, and many sheep, 
oxen, and horses were drowned. Bourne was overflowed to the 
midway of the height of the church. This calamity extended 
over many counties, and did an enormous amount of harm. 
(Holllngshed.J 

At the end of the last and the beginning of the present century, 
several very high tides occurred which did much damage. On 
the 1st of January, 1779 a heavy gale of wind caused the tide to 
flow unusually high, doing damage in Boston and the neighbour- 
hoorl. On the 19th October, 1801, and on November 30th, 



28 

1807, liigli tides occurred, which flowed so high as to dekige the 

streets of Boston and innndato the houses ; and the latter tide 

caused the water to rise so high as to enter the church and flow 

as far as the pulpit. The extraordinaiy high tide of the 10th of 

Novemher, 1810, was attended by the most calamitous results, 

arising from a breach of the sea banks in several places along the 

coast. The following account of the effects of this tide is given 

by a modern writer : — 

•' The whole of the day was very rainy and tempestuous ; the wind hlew 
impetuously from the E.S.E., and gradually increased in violence till the 
evening, when it became a perfect hurricauc. The consequence of this con- 
tinued gale was, that the evening tide came in with great rapidity, and rose to 
an unprecedented height, being i\ inches higher than that of November, 
1807 ; whole streets in the vicinity of the river wore completely inundated ; 
and many parts of the town, which liad hitherto escaped the effects of a high 
tide, were on this occasion covered to a considerable depth with water. Owing 
to the sea banks having given way in many parts of the neiglibourhoodj and 
an iiniuense quantity of water having spread itself through thi- breaches over 
tlie ad^jacent country, which on the ebb of the tide had to return the same 
way until it reached their level, the water in the streets of Boston did not 
perceptibly abate for nearly an hour. The old sea bunks were insutlicient, 
and the surge dashed over them for nearly their Avhole extent and in its fiill 
scoured away tlie soil of tlie bank on the land side from the summit to the 
base, by which means breaches were occasioned. The whole extent of country, 
from Wiiintieet to Spalding, shartd in tliis calamity ; great numbers of sheep 
ami other cattle were drowned ; corn and haystacks were swept away, and 
property to the following amount destroyed : Individual losses, £11), 84.0 10s. ; 
injury to pubUo sea banks, £3500 ; injury to private sea banks, £8000 ; total, 
£28,ol0 10s. A subscription was entered into to relieve in some degree the 
distress of those who had been injured by this great calamity." {T]iompson's 
History of ISostcn.) 

The sea banks were repaired, strengthened, and heightened, 
and afterwards again tested by another high tide on the 2nd of 
March, 18^20, which proved disastrous to the private banks 
enclosing the out-marshes from Butterwiek to Wainlleet, but the 
repairs of the old sea banlvs saved them from material injury. 

Extraordinary high tides occurred in August, 1800 and 
December, 1807, but the highest since that of 1810 was on the 8th 



29 

of February la^t, when tho whole of the eastern coast was visited 
bj a remarkably high tide, caused by strong westerly gales blowing 
tho water out of tho Atlantic, and a sudden cliango to tho N.l'i., 
driving it on this coast. Importunately tho spjing tides were not 
at their height until three days after this occurred, or the daniago 
done would have boon more serious than it was. The lands on 
the Humber and the Ouzo suffered most severely, the banks being 
broken in several places ; but the effect in flooding houses and 
destroying property was severely felt in every river from the Tyne 
to the Thames and tho Medway. This tide rose to a height of 
24:^ feet above the cill of liobhole sluice, — which is level with 
low water, of spring tides in Clayhole, in the Estuary — or within 
21 inches of the tide of 1810. Tho ellcct of tho wind on tho 
action of the tides was shown in a remarkable way by this 
occurrence, the tide of the previous evening being nearly six feet 
lower, and that of the following evening three feet lower. 

By so precarious a tenure is the fen land held, and so great is 
the necessity for constant and unremitting vigilance and care, that 
with the least neglect, only perhaps an unseen rat hole, the waving 
corn fields are turned into a sea of water. So important has 
everything that is conducive to the preservation of these banks 
been deemed by the Legislature of the country that in the Game 
Act special exception is made in their favour, and any person is 
at liberty to shoot or destroy the rabbits or conies found on any 
sea bank on the Lincolnshire coast. The laws in olden times 
were very stringent as to the preservation of the banks. Swine 
were not allowed to go upon them, unless they were ringed, 
under a penalty of one penny — equal to a shilling in our money ; — 
in case of a breach the sheriff was authorised to impress diggers 
and laborers for repairing the embankments. A terrible penalty for 
neglect is mentioned by Harrison, in his preface to Tlolllmjshed' s 
Chroniclesy who says that " Such as having walls or banks, near 



80 

unto the soa, aiul do sutler the same io decay, after couveiiient 
admouitioD, whereby the Nvater eutereth and droNvueth up the 
couutry, are by a eertjiiu iviieient custom apprehended, condemned, 
and ittiikyd in thf brench, ^Yhero they remain for ever a parcel of the 
new >vall that is to made upon them as 1 have hoard reported." 
Yet important as tlie preservation of these nimparts are io the 
security of the country, perhaps little thought is given by the 
occupier of the land as he pui-sues his daily calling as to how much 
he owes to these works of the ancient Romans. Custom mjvkes 
all things common : and yet when the danger comes the sturdy 
independence and self help, so chtmicteristic o( the fen men, is 
called forth to the fullest extent. 

*• Xo ouo luis OYor soon a iVu hank break without hououring the stern quiet 
temper which there is in the feu men, when the north-easter is blowing above, 
the spring tide roariug outside, the briunuing tide-way lapping up to the dyke 
top. or tlying over in slieets of spray ; when round the ouo fatal tliread which 
is trickling over the dyke, or worse, through some forgotten rat's hole in its 
side, hundreds of men are clustered, without tumult, without complaint, 
marshalled under their employers, tighting the brute powers of nature, not 
for their employers' sake alone, but for the sake of their own year's labour, 
and their own year's bread. The sheep have been driven off the land below : 
the cattle stand nvuged shivering on high dykes inland : they will be saved iu 
punts, if the worst befall, but a hundred spades, wielded by practised bauds, 
cannot stop that tiny rat hole. The trickle becomes a rush, the rusli a ro.aring 
waterfall. The dyke top trembles — gives. The men mivke efforts, desperate 
dangerous, as of sailors in a wreck, with faggots, hurdles, sedge turf; but the 
b.*ink will break, and slowly they dniw otV. sullen, but uncouiphviuing : beaten 
but not conquered. A new cry arises among them. Up, to save youdex 
sluice ; that will save youder lode ; that again yonder farm : tlu\t again some 
other lode, some other farm, far back inland, but guessed at instantly by men 
who have studied from their youth, as the necessity of their existence, the 
labyrinthine drjunage of lauds which are all below the water level, suid where 
the inner lands in many cases are lower still than those outside. 

♦* So they hurry away to the nearest ftirms ; the teams are harnessed, the 
■waggons tilled, and dniwu down and emptied ; the beer cans go round cheerily, 
and the men work with a sort of savage joy at being able to do something, if 
not all, and stop the sluice on which so much depends. As for the outer bind 
it is gone past hope ; through the breach pomrs a roariug salt catamct, digging 
out a hole on the inside of the bank, which remains as a deep sullen pond for 



81 

years to come. Hunrlrodfl, thousands of pounds are lost already, past all hope. 
Be it so then. At the next neap tide perha^)S they will bo able to mend the 
dyke, and pump tbe water out ; and begin again, ])eaten but not conquered, 
the flame everlaBting light with wind and wave which their forefathers have 
waged for now IBOO years." (C. Kingsley.) 

From the time of the Norman Conquest till tlie reign of James 
the First, the fens remained as common land, the monasteries 
and religious houses having certain rights of pasturage and turbary. 
After the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. these 
rights fell into the hands of numerous private individuals, and 
were the occasion of many disputes, the records of which exist in 
the annals of the law courts. Commissions were issued to settle 
the boundaries of the fens, and determine the rights of the Crown ; 
and in Queen Elizabeth's reign a code of fen laws, for the regu- 
lation of the commoners, was issued, to which a fuller mention 
will be made hereafter. The attempts made by the Earl of Bedford 
to reclaim the great Bedford Level directed the attention of King 
James to the state of the other fens in Lincolnshire, and many 
efforts were made through the Court of Sewers to improve the 
drainage ; but owing to the inability of this court to compel the 
payment of taxes necessary for carrying out the work, the various 
schemes fell through, and were otherwise postponed, in consequence 
of tlic unsettled state of the country during the civil wars. In 
the reign of Charles the First grants were made of these fens to 
certain "undertakers," who in consideration of their having a 
portion of the land granted to them as their reward, undertook to 
reclaim the land ; and to a great extent succeeded ; but in the 
lawless times that followed they found it impossible to preserve 
their possessions from the attacks of the dispossessed fen men, 
who cut the banks, pulled up the sluices, and threw down the 
dykes. And so the fens remained in a partial state of reclamation 
till the year 1762, when an Act was obtained for the improvement 



82 

o\' \ho low Iniulj? on Iho W'Khiuu. UiuIim- tlio powor o\' Oils Act 
tJio river _wns iinprmwl, and tho lUraml Sluieo orooiod at Boston. 
This was followed bv an Aet for the better draina.w and reehuna- 
Hon of Holland Fen and the Black Shiiee district in ITtw"). The 
Act for the encU^snre o( the h^.ast and West Fens dates from ISO!, 
nnd for Peeping Fon abmit tho sivmo time, steam power being 
applied in 18*2}^. 

The j;eneral principle on which the drainaj^je of the fens is laid 
out is tliat of gmvitation, hvrgo arterial drains being cnt through 
tho centre of the feus, protected by self-acting doors to i^xcludo 
tlu> tides, at their junction with the main river. These largo 
dniins are fed bv a complete netwm-k of smaller sewers, which 
ramify tlironghout thewlu^le of the level, and conduct the rainfall 
from the laud to the main drains, and through them to the sea. 

The same eiror has been committed in the dniinage of these 
fens as Sir Ooruelins Vermuyden tell into in laying i>ut that of 
tlio Bedford Level. The whole attention o( the various nndertakers 
aud commissioners has been applieil to tlu^ improvement of tho 
interior diuinage, and tJie outfall has been entirely neglected. 
The scheme carried out by Sir 0. Vermuyden consisted in making 
a great number of new straight cuts in the interior of the level, 
luid shutting out the tidal waters from tlu\se by means of sluices, 
t^nfortunately he had dmwn his conclusions from his knowledge 
of Holland and Flanders. These countries were ntteily dissimilar 
to the fens of the counties o( Lincoln and Ciuubridge. The 
former were contiguous to the sea. and recovered directly from 
it. and were unprovided with any natural rivers, rendering ilw 
use of sluices absolutely necessary. The fens of this part of 
the country are several miles from the ocean, and through their 
nudst run natural rivei*^ which at one tinu^ had regular and 
continued currents. Vermuyden was i>pposed at tlu> time by 
W'estordyke, a countrymau oi' his own, aud by others, who 



83 

pointed out tho natural and obvious course to pursue, that in to 
begin at tlio outfall and to scour out, straighten, widen, and 
deepen the main rivers and embank their nides, and then to 
have cut off the higli land Wiitern witli catch- water drains as tlio 
Bomans hud done Ixifore, itnd u/a ll,(!/jni(j did afterwards. This 
done, the completion of the interior (hainage would liave beea 
comparativ<!ly a simple and easy undertaking. Instead of pursuing 
tliis cfjnrse, Vermuyden utterly neglected his outfalls ; in many 
cases abandoned the natural rivers and devoted his whole energies 
to tho interior drainage, expending tho capital of his employers in 
making long straight cuts and sluices, which afterwards were 
found ineflectiial because they could not void the waters which 
drained into tbcni, owing to the outfall being rendered defective 
by neglect and llie operations of these very works. (WelV» 
I I'utoni of l.lw. licdfonl, l/:vd.) J>adesdale, in his account of tho 
Great Level, remarks tli;i.i if tlie fens Ijud bef;n j)rovided with 
proper drains to convey their downfall waters into the great 
rivers, and if art had been applied to assist nature in embanking 
tliese iriHtead of eontr;i dieting her by erecting sluices, nature 
would bave kept the outfulls so wide and deep that tho fens 
woidd hiwe fjeen jteilccily drained. It will bo seen, as this 
history proceedH, that nearly the whohj of the level of tho fens 
here treated (W, is capable of being drained by natural means if 
only the (jutfiJl b(5 properly protected, and tho rivers allowed to 
act in the way nature intended them by the free flux and reflux of 
the tides ; and that this is no mere theory of the author, but is 
the expressed opinion of every engineer of eminence who has 
been called in to adviso on the drainage. Unfortunately the 
engineers have had to yield their opinions to those of their 
employers, and consequently mechanical means have to be adopted 
at great and continuous expense to do that which nature would 
willingly do for us if only she were properly assisted by art. 



84 

Tho water falling on the lands lying below the ordinary height 
of flood level was in the first instance lifted up by means of 
wheels worked bj' wind mills. The origin of the introduction of 
wind mills as applied to drainage is said to have arisen from the 
necessity that the engineers of tho Bedford Level Commission 
found from time to time of employing some mechanical means of 
emptying the drains when requiring to be cleaned out. For this 
purpose, in the first instance, large scoops, so constructed as to 
be handled by a number of men, were used ; but in 1687 the 
Corporation of the Bedford Level provided mills, consisting of 
a wheel with floats, very similar to the old breast wheel, to which 
motion was given by horses. In the year IGUO a person of the 
name of Green erected one of these mills at Slade to drain his 
land ; and in 1703 another was erected by Silas Tytus. Both 
these were considered nuisances and ordered to bo pulled down. 
The owners resorted for relief to a Court of Equity, but tho 
termination of the suit was favorable to the Corporation. 

Although from this it would appear that these mills wore 
opposed to popular opinion, they made such advancement that 
they soon took their place as absolute necessities in the economy 
of drainage. The level had become so inundated by the choking 
up of the interior drains, tho defective state of the rivers them- 
selves, and the neglect to improve the outfalls to the sea, that the 
Corporation found it impossible to resist the importunity of the 
country to resort to an artificial system of interior drainage. 
(WcWs TUstonj of the Bedford Level). In the year 172G an Act 
was obtained for the eftectual drainage of lladdonham Fen b}' tho 
use of mills, and after this their use became general. Horse- 
power soon gave way to tho wind, but the operations of this 
capricious clement svere found to bo too uncertain, and a more 
expensive but cflective substitute was found in steam. The 
largest engines in this district are those erected for tlie drainage 



85 

of Doopiiiff Fon in 1824, coneistinjT of two onglnes of an a[,'f:;ro{:jato 
power of I'iO liorsoH, and worlcivi}^ two lavf^'o hc-ooi) vvIiooIh, wliich 
lift tho wliolo of tho wator from J)o(ipin{^ Foii, coniaininr; 25,000 
acroH. Nuiriorous onf^inos for tlio drain.'ii^o of Hniiill tniclH of luiid 
exist in diU'eront parts of Mui fdiis : tlioso ili;i,t Imve l)oen in 
existence for some years worlc the old-fashioned scoop, but thoso 
are gradnally givinj^' wjiy to the centrifuf^al pnnip.i= 

This reference to tlio mechanical ai)|)Iiancos that have been 
bron<];ht into action in tlie drainage of the f(uis would not bo 
compKito without nu^iitiou of the plan a,doi)ied for emptying the 
water from the Middle Ticvel over the djnn that was made to stay 
the tides at the fatal iiunidation that took ])lace in 1801, by tho 
blowing up of the Middle Tjevel 81nic(i. In lieu of erecting steam 
pumps, Mr. nawkshiiAv proposetl IJiiil, IJio piinciple of the syphon 
shoidd he ii.pplied, iiiid for iJiis purpose 10 largo bent tubes, each 
150 feet h)iig, and .'{ft. (Jin. in diameter, are jtlaced on the 
embankment, with tho short leg in the drain, :uid the long owo in 
the river. Three air-pumps are attached to the syj)hons, and aro 
used to exhaust the air from the tubes, being worked by a ten- 
horse-power engine. These syphons liave, up to tho present 
time, boon found to perform their work satisfactorily, and havo no 
doubt answered tho purpose for which they were intended. 

Further details of tho works of drainage, n,nd of the constitu- 
tion of tho various commissions who have tho control over them, 
will be given in connection with the history of each fen. Sullico 
it hero to say, in conclusion, that the rechunation of tho fens, 
and their present wonderfully fertile condition, is duo to tho 
ingenuity and perseverance of their inl);d)itants, aided by tho 
skill of tho most talented engineers who have lived during tho 
last hundred years. Nearly ovovy engineer of high standing has 

* 'IMid hU<iI.c1i 111, I.Iki end of lliin clmprc^r ih taken from n. Jnlll mid dniinnj/fi wli(!cl 
»U11 Ubcd lor lil'Liiii: llio water oil LUo luiid into one of the liruiiiB in Jlollund l^in. 



86 

left his mark on some part of this gi'GatJIevel. Smeaton, Telford, 
Labeljo, the designer of the old Westminster Bridge ; Mylne, 
the builder of Blackfritxi's Bridge ; the Bennies, Cubitt, Brunei, 
"Walker, and Robert Stephenson, have all been called at various 
times ; and oven now it is only by the constant and vigilant 
attention of skilled men that the fens are preserved. The ruin 
and devastation, the long and costly litigation, and the ultimate 
heavy tax on the land, caused by the Middle Level inundation, is 
a sad instance of the serious consequences arising from neglect, 
and shows how dependent is the cultivation of the soil on the skill 
and attention of the engineer. 




DRAINAGE MILL AND WHEEL 



CHAPTER II. 

THE EIVER WITHAM AND THE FENS ADJACENT. 

The river Witham takes its rise at the village of South Witham, 
about ten miles north of Stamford ; and after a circuitous course 
of about 68 miles empties itself into Boston Deeps. The shape 
of the river may be compared to a horseshoe, the upper part of 
the shoe being at Lincoln, and the two ends respectively at South 
Witham and Fishtoft, the distance between the two points being 
about 28 miles. 

The Witham, springing at Thistleton and South Witham, thence 
flows almost due north, past Colsterworth, Great and Little 
Ponton, to Grantham, at each of which places it receives tributary 
streams. It then continues its northerly course past the beautiful 
grounds of Belton and Syston, whence it takes a westerly direction 
to Long Benington, receiving on its way the Honington Brook, 
and a stream one head of which rises in the vale of Belvoir and 
the other at Denton, and both united join the Witham at Hougham; 
whence it turns again north, and passes Claypole, Barnaby, 
Beckingham, Stapleford, Thurlby, and Hykeham. At the latter 
place another tributary joins it, having its rise near Caythorpe 
and Fulbeck ; and also at Welbourne, and continues through a 
wide sandy valley to Lincoln. Here its direction is changed 
eastward for about eight miles ; and after receiving at this point 
another considerable stream turns south-east, and continues in 
that direction till it discharges its contents into Boston Haven. 
At Bardney, Stixwould, and Dogdyke it receives additions from 
small streams ; and at Tattershall the Bjin discharges its waters, 
after a course of about 25 miles, having its rise at Ludford, and 
passing Homcastle and Scrivelsby on its way. 



40 

The length of the Witham, as already stated, is G8 miles. The 
total ai-ea of laud drainod by this river is about 080,^)02 acres, 
of which 114,088 acres are high Lmds, and 205,41)1 ions, or 
liuids drainod by artificial cuts. The history of the Witham may 
be traced back to very early times. There is reason for believing 
that during tlio time of the Romans, who had a station at 
Lincoln, and long afterwards, the Witham admitted ships of con- 
siderable size to sail thither, as remains of them have been 
discovered deeply buried by the accumulation of the deposit left 
by the waters. Dugdale mentions that large ribs of ships had, 
within memory, been there dug up, and this receives further 
confirmation from tlio followincj circumstance : — On diiii]:in']f for 
a foundation to build a house, at the upper end of the main street 
in Lincoln, a boat was discovered, which, by a chain and lock, 
was fastened to a post. (Chapinan's Facts (Vid liemarhs.J This 
spot being many yards higher than the middle of that valley, 
through which the Withiim runs, it is inferred that the boat had 
been moored at the side of the river and sunk and silted up, and 
that the channel must there have been both broad and deep. 

In William the Conqueror's time Lincoln was one of the most 
important cities in England, and Leland tolls us that men flocked 
there both by land and water : and in Henry the First's reign we 
ai'e informed that Lincoln possessed a ver}^ large shai'e of the 
import and export trade of the kingdom. In Edwiu'd the Third's 
reign it was made a staple for wool, leather, and lead. The 
Witham was the only source b}- which this trade could have been 
cai'ried on, and must therefore have been in a condition navigable 
for ships of a size competent to cross the seas to foreign parts. 
It is even asserted that the bed of the river was considerably 
lower than it is now, and that the tide ran quite up to the city, and 
raised the water at the SwAn-pool two or three feet. In 174o it 
had so far deteriorated that spring tides only rose two feet six 
inches at the mouth of the river Bain. 



41 

The Witham, bonides beinj^ a great liij^hway to one of the 
moRt populouH citicH in England at iliat tinio, received additional 
imi)()rtanco from itn fiKheries. Camden Bayn it wan famonn for its 
pike, hence the old Haying, •* Witham pike, England hath none 
the like." Another writer informs uh that, owing to the aLundanco 
and quality of fish found in the fen rivers, the monks and holy 
men were led to choose situations near their banks for the erection 
of their religious houses, llight of iishery in this stream was 
granted by William de Gaunt in the year 1115 to the Abbey of 
liardney ; and in the year 11G2 a fishery on the Witljam, near Dog- 
dyke, was given to the monks of Kirkstead by William de Kymo. 

The religious establishments on the banks of the Witham were 
more numerous perhaps than those of any other river in Britain 
within the same compass. Twelve of these houses were erected 
within twenty miles, viz., at Monkshouse, Barlings, liardney, 
Tupholme, Stixwould, Kirkstead, and Tattershall on the eastern 
side ; and Kyme, Catley, Mere, Nocton, and Haverholme on the 
western. The holy residents of these establishments did not 
always behave in a manner that was to be expected from their 
calling. They did not follow out the golden rule of "doing to 
others as they would that others should do to them," for in the 
reign of J^dward the First the holy nuns of Stixwould were accused 
of making an encroachment on the river, which operated to the 
serious injury of the country, and they were ordered to remove it. 

The gradual extension of the population which gathered round 
these monasteries caused attention to bo paid to the condition of 
the low lands on cither side of the river between Lincoln and 
Boston, which were overflowed all the winter, necessitating 
constant attention to the river ; the descent of the stream from 
Lincoln to the sea being so little, that the water having a slow 
passage, could not keep it wide and deep enough either for 
navigation or for draining the adjacent marshes without the 



4a 

frequent liolps of dipfginj:: and oloaringf tlio snmo. Tlio oarlioat 
mention that is made of legislative interference for the manage- 
ment of this river was in Edward the Third's reign, when a 
presentment was made in the Court of King's Innieh that, owing 
to the default of the town of Oonijigshv, the channel o( the river 
in Wildniore was bending and defective, and consequently the 
marshes of Wildmore and Bolingbroke were overllowod and 
drowned. 

In 1;>42 (IG Kdw. III.) a petition was presented to the King, 
stating that the " Ka of Kvme," betwixt JX)cdyke and lUvntFen, 
was so obstructed by nuid, tW*., that ships laden with wine, wool, 
and otlier merchandise could not pass as thev used to do. 
Towards the latter end of this reign the river was cleansed and 
widened bv royal patent. In Richard the Second's reign a com- 
mission was appointed t'or the view and repair o\' those banks and 
sewers betwixt llildike and Holingbroke, and belwixt the river 
"NVitham and the sea, and to do all things therein according to the 
law and enstoni of this reaJni, and according to the custom oi' 
lunnnev IVlarsh ; anil also to take so many diggers and labourers, 
upon competent salaries, in regard of the then urgent necessity as 
should be suthcient to accomplish that work. ( Dutjdalt'.) 

{Several other commissions were issued in subsequent reigns 
for the like purpose, and in Henry the Seveutli's reign (1501^) a 
Council was held to settle the best means to be taken to improve 
the river, at which they determined to send to Flanders for some 
experienced person to advise them. May Hake was the chosen 
engineer, and under his advice it was determined that a sluice 
should be erected across the river at Boston. A new commission 
was appointed, which was insti'ucted to ascertain the number of 
acres ; order statute dut^' to be performed till the work was 
finished ; levy conti-ibutions : send ships to Calais for Hake and 
his companions skilled in embanking and draining, and for 



48 

materials for the work ; appoint proper officers for directinj» and 
expediting tlio same, and wliatover else might fall under tho 
necesHary management of tho concern. Tho sum of X'lOOO was 
borrowed for carrying out tho work, until such time as it could ho 
levied ])y Iho Commissioners of Sewers, according to tho law of 
Romnoy Marsh. Ilako was to ho paid for his services at tho rato 
of in. per week, with a gratuity of £50 on the successful completion 
of the work. Tho stonemasons and stonehewers, fourteen of 
whom he agreed to bring with him, were to have 4s. per week. 

Tho sluice was accordingly erected. The situation appears to 
have been under or near the old wooden bridge over tho Witham 
at Boston, as mention is subsequently made of a sluice there. It 
does not seem to have answered tho expectation of tho promoters, 
for towards tho end of the 16th century the state of tho river was 
worse than ever. The exact principle on which tho sluico was 
constructed does not appear ; but that it was not intended to 
exclude the tidal waters may be gathered from the fact that in the 
year 1700 spring tides are stated to have risen ten feet at a 
distance of five miles above Ijoston, and from a remark in a paper 
of one Dr. Browne, written about tho year 15G(), "That tho sluico 
was not according to the first meaning and detennination, but 
should have been made with a pair of fludd gates, that tho fludd 
should have no further course than the bridge, but so to have 
returned back again ; and tho fresh water following tho salt, which 
should continue fresh above the brid^,'e, to have had at all times 
fresh water for the commodity of the town during tho time of tho 
fludd. And also to have scoured tho haven daily both above the 
sluico and to the seaward." 

From this time the river continued to decay, owing to tho decline 
of the trade and commerce of Boston, by the withdrawal of certain 
merchants. And it seems probable that in consequence of tho 
trade being lost, the motives to labour for the security of a country 



44 

which could not vend its staple commodity, must have been few 
and feeble. 

The suppression of the religious houses by Henry VIII. also 
tended very seriously to injure the drainage by the river ; for their 
spiritual tenants were assiduous in preserving their property, and 
improving their lands by attending to the work of sewers, and.it 
cannot be doubted that these would be neglected, and the drainage 
suffer when the King seized upon their revenues and banished the 
proprietors. 

The fens adjacent to the Witham were, no doubt, included in 
the various schemes which were carried out in the reign of Charles 
the First, and attention directed to the state of the river ; but no 
particular mention of this is made by Dugdale and other ancient 
writers on the subject. The attempts made for the reclamation 
of the East and West and Wildmore Fens will be detailed here- 
after in a chapter devoted to their special history. 

In the 3"ear 1720 the North Forty-foot Drain was constructed 
bj' Earl Fitzwilliam for the drainage of a tract of land belonging 
to him, lying to the north of Kyme Eau. Having made repeated 
applications, without success, to the Court of Sewers to drain his 
lands, he determined to undertake the work himself, and for that 
purpose cut the North Forty-foot, which, passing under Kyme Eau, 
discharged its waters at a new sluice erected a little above Boston 
bridge, and by this means withdrew from the Witham a great 
quantity of water which used to find its way into the river at the 
sluice at Langrick, much to the detriment of the channel above 
Boston, and very little to his own benefit, for it appears that so 
ineflectual was the new drainage that one of the tenants cut his 
own banks to rid himself of the water, and let it flow into Holland 
Fen. 

About the beginning of the IStli century numerous breaches 
are reported as existing, in the banks from neglect, through whidi 



45 

the waters ran in and out of the fens ; and the lands continued 
in a drowned state, and the navigation completely lost, till the 
year 17G1. The means and powers at the disposal of the Court 
of Sewers, the body having the control over these fens, being found 
quite inadequate to carry out any general measure for their im- 
provement, the proprietors most largely interested in the state of 
the land met together, and determined to apply to Parliament to 
supersede the Court of Sewers so far as this district was concerned, 
and to sanction the appointment of a new commission vested with 
considerable powers for levying taxes and performing works, and all 
other things for draining and reclaiming the fen and restoring the 
navigation. Mr. Langlcy Edwards being appointed engineer, under 
his advice a scheme for the improvement of the river was settled, and 
in the second year of George the Third was passed " An Act for 
draining and preserving certain low lands, lying on both sides of the 
river Witham, in the county of Lincoln, and for restoring and main- 
taining the navigation of the said river from the High-bridge, in 
the city of Lincoln, through the borough of Boston to the sea." 
(2 George III., c. xxxii.) The preamble to this Act recites, that 
the river Witham, in the county of Lincoln, was formerly navigable 
for hghters, barges, boats, and other vessels from the sea through 
Boston to the High-bridge, in the city of Lincoln; but by the sand 
and silt brought in by the tide the outfall thereof into the sea had, 
for many years last past, been greatly hindered and obstructed, 
and was then in a great measure stopped up, lost, and destroyed, 
and thereby great part of the low lands and fens lying on both sides 
of the said river (and which contain together about one hundred 
thousand acres) were frequently overflowed and rendered useless 
and unprofitable, to the great loss of the respective owners thereof, 
the decay of trade and commerce, and the depopulation of the 
country ; and that in the judgment and opinion of experienced 
engineers and persons of known skill and ability, the navigation 



46 

of llio snid river Witham, iind the outfall thereof into the sea, 
were capable of being restored and maintained, and the said low 
lands and fens of being drained, cultivated, and improved, but that 
the same could not bo done ^vithout the authority of Parliament. 

The district now included in the Witham commission is that 
tract of land lying on either side of the river, extending from 
Lincoln on the north to tho town of ]U)ston on the south, stretching 
eastward as f»U' as the higher grounds in Froiston, ]>utterwick, 
Benington, Leake, Wrangle, and Friskney, and bounded on the 
west by the Cardyke, the old catchwater diaiu of the Romans, 
which separated the high lands from the fens. The East Fen 
was not included in the hrst Act, but was added in the year 1801. 
(41 George III. cap. 185.) 

For tho pur]>osea of the Act the level was divided into six 
districts. The Ih-st, comprising the fens on the south-west sido 
of tho Witham, extending from Tjincoln to l>ogdyke, the second, 
Holland Feu and the adjoining lands, bounded by Dogdyke and 
Kyme Eau on the north, the Witham on the east, and south and 
west by Swineshead, Heckington, and Brothertoft ; the third 
district comprised the fens on the north-east side of the Witham, 
stretehing from Lincoln to Tattershall : the fourth district, the 
Wildnu)re and West and East fens ; the llfth district, fens in 
Anwick, Noitli Kyme, lluskington, Borrington, and Bigby ; tho 
sixth, fens in South Kyme, Great Hale, Little Hale, Heckington, 
Ewerby, Uo\vi>ll. and Swineshead. 

Tlie General Connnission was to consist of 5^7 members, 81 of 
whom were to be elected by the several districts in the following 
proportions : — The iirst were entitled to send 7 representatives, 
the second (5, the third 5, the fourth 8, the lifth 2, and the sixth 
;^. V^nvh numdier electcif must have qualitied for the otVice by 
taking a prescribed oath, and must have been in possession of 
land of the value of 1*100 per lunuun, or personal property to thti 



47 

value of JC'iODO, or bo lioir apparent to landed property of the 
value of JJ20() per annum. The reniainin^f six memberK consisted 
of the Mayors of liostou and Lincoln for the time being, and two 
Connnissioners elected by the city of Lincoln, and two by tho 
borough of lioston. The Commissioners were to be elected every 
three years, but in default of such election taking place tho old 
Commissioners were to remain in oflice. An annual meeting was 
to be held every year on the first Tuesday in July, at either 
Lincoln, Boston, or Sleaford. J^lach district had also its own 
commission for the management of tho interior drainage works in 
their respective neighbourhood, the number of members being 
regulated by the number of parishes in each district, each parish 
electing one representative ; and the qualiiication for a vote being 
the ownership of land liable to taxation of tho value of jL'5, or an 
occupiition of .Lr>(). These Commissioners elected from amongst 
themselves certain members, as before stated, to represent them 
at the Board of the General Commission, who had the control of 
all the {irterial drains and outfall sluices, and a general supervision 
over the whole level. 

A Navigation Commission was also appointed, separate from 
the Drainage Trust, consisting of the Mayor of Lincoln and four 
other members elected by tho burgesses, the Mayor of Boston and 
four members elected by the Corporation, and ten members elected 
by the General Drainage Commissioners. The functions of this 
body were the restoration of the navigation ; and for this purpose 
they had power to erect locks, make cuts, and clean out tho 
rivers ; and were to pay the extra expenses in providing a lock at 
the new sluice to be erected at Boston. To enable them to 
execute these works they were authorised to take tolls (not 
exceeding Is. 6d. per ton) on all boats navigating tho Witham, 
and to raise money on tho security of tho tolls. In pursuance of 
the powers so granted, tho Commissioners expended £0,800 in 



48 

deepening the river and building the new locks and other works, 
and once more made it navigable for vessels, but of a different 
class to those that sailed up the river on the flood tide to Lincoln, 
when that city was in its palmy days as a mercantile town. 

The works for the improvement of the drainage sanctioned by 
this Act, and subsequently carried out, consisted of straightening 
the course of the river Witham by making a new cut from Boston 
to Chapel-hill, and cleansing, widening, and deepening the river 
from that place to Stamp-end, near Lincoln ; the fishing weirs 
and other obstructions which had hitherto hindered the full course 
of the waters were removed ; the sides of the river were embanked 
and the water prevented flowing on the adjacent lands, while its 
discharge was efl'ected b}^ the cleansing and deepening of the Kyme 
Eau, Billinghaj'' Skirth, the Bane, and other tributaries and side 
drains. The new cut from Boston to Chapel-hill was laid out by 
the engineer in a direct line between those two places ; but to 
oblige one large proprietor the channel was turned from its proper 
direction so as to run by Anton's Gowt ; and to accommodate 
another, it was made to go off thence, at a sharp angle, towards 
Langrick. ( Chapman'' s Facts and Remarks.) The dimensions 
of this cut, as set out in the Act, were 80 feet top and 50 feet 
bottom, the top diminishing to 68 feet at Chapel-hill, the depth 
being on an average 9 feet 6 inches. 

At the lower end of the cut was erected a " Grand Sluice " for 
stemming the tide, on a piece of ground called Harrison's Four 
Acres, between Lodowick's Gowt and Boston bridge ; the floor 
whereof was three feet at least lower than the floor of the said 
gowt, and its capacity, or clear water way, was fifty feet wide, 
with three pairs of pointing doors to the sea-ward, to shut with 
the flow of the tides (a fourth opening being built by the Navi- 
gation Commissioners), and also pointing frames, provided with 
drops, or draw doors, on the land side, to be shut occasionally iiL 



49 

order to retain fresh water in dry seasons for tlie use of cattle 
and the navigation. The top of the draw doors being guaged to 
such a height as to retain the water of the river not higher, at 
ordinary seasons, than two feet below the medium surface of the 
lowest lands that drain therein. Act 2 Geo. III., chap. 32. h< 

A new sluice, of 14 feet water way, was also made at Anton's 
Gowt for the discharge of the water from the West and Wildmore 
Fens, having a pair of pointing doors towards the Witham to 
prevent the floods of that river backing on to the Fens. The 
sluice was connected with the former system of drainage by a new 
cut to the place where the old Anton's Gowt stood. The Com- 
missioners were further empowered to build a bridge across the new 
cut, or river, at a point about half-way between Anton's Gowt and 
Boston, for the purpose of preserving the communication with the 
several lands of Boston West and Holland Fen. This part of the 
Act was never carried out. 

The site of the new sluice was the subject of much contention 
between the Commissioners and the town of Boston ; the latter 
being anxious that it should be erected in the place of the old 
bridge ; but the Commissioners, apprehensive that the town would 
gain great advantage from its erection in that situation, while it 
would be disadvantageous to the drainage, selected a spot about 
a quarter of a mile above the bridge, and the same distance to 
to the east of the old river. The foundation-stone of the Grand 
Sluice was laid by Charles Amcotts, Esquire, on the 26th March, 
1764 ; and it was opened by the engineer, Mr. Langley Edwards, 
on the 15th October, 1766, in the presence of a very large 
concourse of spectators, estimated as numbering ten thousand 
persons, amongst whom were many of the nobility and gentry 
from remote parts of the kingdom. The Sluice disappointed the 

* The engraving of the Grand Sh;ice at the end of this chapter is from a pho- 
tograph taken by Mr. Jlackford for the author • 



60 

expectation of miiiij' who liad come to witness the opening 

ceremony, jind one of the visitors roheved himself by composing 

the following verse : — 

" Boston, Boston, Boston ! 
Thou hast naught to boast on, 
But ft Grand SUiico, and a high steeple ; 
A prouil oonooitcd ignorant people, 
And ft coast where souls are lost on." 

The General Commissioners expended in the erection of the 
sluice and other drainage works the sum of iT)3,G50, which was 
raised on mortgage ; and for the defra\'ing of which, and for current 
expenses, they were authorized to collect taxes not exceeding one 
shilling per acre on the first, second, third, and fourth districts, 
and sixpence per acre on the fifth and sixth. Half-year lands were 
to pay only two-thirds of these amounts ; and common lauds 
one-half so long as they remained in that condition, but as soon 
as they became improved hinds they were to be subject to the full 
rate. The Commissioners were further empowered to enclose 
common lands to the extent of 800 acres in the West, 600 acres 
in the "Wildmore, and 1000 acres in Holland Fens, and to let the 
same on lease for 21 yeai's, the rents being applied to the purposes 
of drainage. 

These works having been successfully carried out as designed 
by the promoters, proved of immediate advantage to the drainage 
of the fens bordering on the Witham, between Lincoln and Chapel- 
hill ; but the East and West Fens still remained in a drowned 
state. A separate chapter will be devoted to the history of their 
reclamation. The waters of Holland Fen and of the districts 
adjoining were subsequently provided for by the di'ainage canied 
out by the Black Sluice Commissioners. 

The river was made navigable for barges and small craft as fiu* 
as Lincoln, and it might have been thought that, having carried 
their scheme out to its completion, the General Commissioners 



61 

would for the future Himply have the duty of maintain in j^ the 
workH in good order, and tliat ilio drainage of the level would 
remain in a perfect condition ; but within a very few yearH it 
became only too apparent that the warning which the Commis- 
sioners received at the time was too well founded, and that by 
obstructing the free paHsage of the tides, by the erection of the 
Grand Sluice across thd river, a very serious error had been 
committed. For a short time the collecting the waters together 
and speedily discharging them through the remodelled drains into 
the Witham, and through the new cut into the haven, had a 
beneficial effect in scouring out its bed and lowering the level of 
the water throughout the fens ; but very soon the consequences 
which invariably follow the erection of weirs or dams of any 
description across a tidal river became apparent. The tidal 
stream, arrested in its progress by the sluice, became quiescent, 
and the silt and mud brought up and held in suspension, so long 
as the water was in motion, sunk by its own gravity directly 
stagnation took place, and gradually formed a deposit on the bed 
of the haven. Previous to the year 1800, in average winter 
seasons, the water never fell below nine feet six inches on the cill, 
and in floods rose considerably higher ; while in summer time, 
there not being back water sufficient to remove the deposit, it 
accumulated to such a degree as completely to close the doors. 
(Chapman s Fads and Remarks. J A few years after the erection 
of the sluice, it appears, from old records, to have risen to a height 
of ten feet on the cill, completely stopping all communication 
between the barges navigating the Witham and the vessels 
employed in exporting and importing coals and other commodities. 
The drainage also became defective. The most perfect system of 
interior drainage is useless unless it has a good outfall or discharge 
for its water. The outfall of the Witham being blocked up in 
summer, and being so much higher than formerly in winter, the 



52 

low lands could not get rid of their waters by natural means, but 
had to resort to pumping, the power being supplied by windmills 
in the first instance, followed in later years by steam engines. 
All the low-lying districts on the Witham provided themselves 
with engines before or in the beginning of the present century ; 
and these have continued to work up to the present time, at a 
very considerable annual cost in coals, attendance, and repairs. 
The present power of the engines engaged in pumping the water 
which drains into the Witham above the Grand Sluice is not less 
than an aggregate of three hundred and fifty horse-power. 

In certain situations, there is no doubt that sluices are necessary 
and highly advantageous. In fact they are absolutely required at 
the end of a canal or artificial cut discharging into a tidal stream 
carrying deposit of any kind in its waters, where such a cut has 
no natural stream or back water. In such a case, if the tides are 
allowed a free course, a small quantity of deposit is left at the 
extreme point touched by the spring tides, which, unless washed 
away in course of a reasonable time by fresh water coming from 
lands above, gradually accumulates and extends lower and lower 
down the stream. In exact ratio as this process goes on, the 
scouring efi'ect of the tides lessens, until at last the bed of the 
channel becomes dry land. To guard against this then it is 
necessary to erect at the point where the canal joins the tidal 
stream a sluice to prevent the ingress of the tides ; but it is also 
equally necessary that this sluice should be placed so as to 
discharge into a stream having a free current of water continually 
passing through it, sufficient to prevent the deposit contained in 
its water from setthng and raising its bed. Such a main artery 
should the Witham be, and would be were it not for the obstruc- 
tion to the tidal stream caused by the Grand Sluice, which has 
not only injured it as the outfall for the several sluices discharging 
their contents into it, and for the lands draining immediately by it, 



53 

but also for the navigation of the port of Boston. Thoro is no 
doubt that if tho tides had free course up the river, and ran 
through tho town of Boston from throe to four hours, as they did 
before the erection of tho Grand Sluice, tho strength of the 
returning ebbs would keep the bed of the river scoured out to 
its natural level ; and consequently lower the water on the cills 
of all the sluices throughout the level, allowing the lands to drain 
by gravitation, and rendering unnecessary the use of steam power. 
Tho amount of water brought down from the high lands by the 
Witham throughout a course of nearly forty miles, and by its 
tributaries, is amply sufficient to remove the small deposit left at 
the head of the high spring tides, the only place where this would 
occur. It may be said, if the tides are sufficient to keep the river 
scoured out and deepened, how is it to be accounted for that the 
river was in the lost condition that it was before the erection of 
the sluice in 1751. Tho answer is obvious. Tho management 
of the river had been so completely neglected that its channel 
was full of weeds and obstructions of all kinds ; the water was 
not confined within the regular channels ; nor was tho size of 
these channels efficiently regulated. Numerous breaches in the 
banks allowed the stream to wander over the fens, and so it 
became scattered and its power weakened ; till ultimately, instead 
of scouring and deepening, it fed and added to tho other 
obstructions in tho river. Neither were any steps taken to 
counteract the effi^ct on the outfall of the river caused by tho 
silting up of the Estuary, a process which has been for ages and 
is now slowly but steadily going on, and which even at this time 
demands the serious attention of those interested in the efficiency 
of the Witham q,s the outfall for their drainage.* 



* More detailed information on this subject is given in the author's pamphlet ou 
the "OutfaU of the River Witham." 



5i 

In tho year 180'2 Mr. Romiio was rcquostod by the General 
Commissii)iiors for Dniiuago aud Navigation to report to them on 
the state of tho Witham, witli a view to suggest some improve- 
ment. As no result followed this report it will only be necessary 
to say that among several minor wt)rks it recommended the 
erection of an additional sluice, and making a new cut from the 
Witham to 8kirbeck Quarter. In the year 1807 ]\[r. Renuio made 
another report as io the state of the AVitliam, and suggested 
several improvements, including its diH^pening, so as to make the 
bed of the river tVt^in Inistou to Washingborough on a level with 
tho cill of the Grand Sluice, allowing the pen height of the water 
there to be reduced without stopping the navigation, aud the 
erection of a new lock and sluices at the latter place ; also a 
now cut from llorsley Peeps to the parish of Fiskerton. 

Li April, 1807, at a meeting of the Commissioners, a series of 
resolutions were passed stating thnt whereas by the enclosure of 
the West and Wildmore Feus their funds had been considerably 
increased, they proposed to improve tho navigation of the Witham 
on the plan proposed by Mr. Renuie ; and that it was desirable 
that its manngement should be luuided over to a company, if one 
could be formed for this purpose. In the following year an Act 
was obtained for etlecting this imd ciuTying out these works of 
improvement, which recited that the powers granted by the Act 
of 1791 were not sulhcient to enable the Commissioners to execute 
all tho works therein contemplated, and that seveml of them were 
then uncompleted ; that in consecpience much limd was liable to 
iryury from floods, and the commerce of the countrj^ greatly 
interrupted. It will be unnecessary to refer farther to this, as 
the money authorized (i*70,000) was never raised, and the Act 
was entirely repealed by a'subsequent one. 

In the year 1811 Mr. Rennie was jigain called to advise the 
Commissioners, and he proposed au lunended scheme on that of 



66 

1807 for tho improvcmont of the rivor. It had long Binco been 
adniittcd tliat tho drainage and navigation intorforod with each 
other, and tlio object tlio ComniiKHionerH had in viow waH to make 
provinion for tho carrying out of tho two truntH in tho way rnoHt 
bcrKificial to each, and ho that tho ono Hhouhl not injure tho other. 
Mr. Konnio'H report and recommendation having boon adopted, 
an Act was obtained in the following session ( 5'2, Geo, III., 
cap. 108) by which the powers vested in tho Commissioners of 
Navigation by the former Act wore transferred to a Company of 
Proprietors, who were to undertake the whole management of the 
navigation and tho works pertaining thereto. Tho tolls were fixed 
at three shillings per ton on all goods conveyed between Lincoln 
and Boston, or for shorter distances three halfpence per ton per 
mile. The duties of the proprietors of the navigation, and of the 
Drainage Commissioners, as to the maintenance of the different 
portions of the river and its embankments were set out, and the 
following new works, as recommended by Mr. Ronnie, authorized : 
— Tho scouring out, widening and deepening, and embanking tho 
Witham, from tho Grand Sluice to Lincoln, tho lower end to be 
finished to a fifty feet bottom, diminishing to a thirty-six foot at 
Horsley Deeps : whence a new cut, with a thirty foot bottom, 
was to be made at Washingborough ; a new lock was to be made 
at the entrance of the new cut at Horsley Deeps, with a rise of 
three feet, and another at Stamp-end, in Lincoln, with a rise of 
four feet. The cill of tho former was to be level with the bed of 
the river, which at this point was to be six feet under the gauge 
mark of tho Grand Sluice. The old locks across tho river at 
Barlings and Kirkstead, and Stamp-end, were to bo removed. 

In order to provide for the flood waters from tho west side of 
Lincoln, a weir twenty-eight feet in width was to be made in the 
east bank of tho Witham, at tho head of liargate-drain, which, 
together with the Sincil dyke, was to be scoured out and deepened, 



66 

niid a now cni nmdo from tho junction of the liiiior with the 
Withiun, aloiij'j; tlio buck of its south hiink to ni)rslo3' Doops, to 
join tho river holow tho now lock ; niul u dt'lph or soak ilyko cut 
]virail(^l witli tlio nortli hauk of tlio rivor iVoiu IwuHugs l*jau, aa 
far upwards as sht)uld bo found necessary to take tho water lying 
on tho nortii side of tlie navigation. 

'1\) cnrry out Ihose works, tho Company of Proprietors woro 
authorized to raise amongst thomsolves a sum of .IJ 120, 000 iu 
shares oi' iMO(>, and to born)\v, on the nu)rtgago of tho tolls and 
duos, the sum of i'()0,000. In consideration of tho benefit to 
the drainage by the improvement of the river, and an agreement 
on the part of the ]Mavigiitit)n rro[)rietors to advance and apply 
the sum of l'JU),000 tcnvards tho execution of drainage works, tho 
Commissioners were to contribute tho sum of iJllOO per annnui 
out of their general funds ; and a like sum of .Cl-lOO out of tho 
funds specially provided by this Act to the Company of Proprietors. 
To enable them to do this thoy woro authorized to coUoct additional 
taxes on the ilrst and tlurd districts of one shilling and sixpence,- — 
one shilling, and sixpence per acre respectively, according to beuolit 
received, — and of threepence per acre on the lifth district. 

In carrying out tJiese works several antiquities were discovered. 
In making the excavation fin* the Ilorsley Peeps Ijock a canoo was 
found eight feet under the surface. It had boon hollowed out of 
an (^ak U\\\ was thirty feet eight inches long, and measured throo 
feet in the widest part. Other canoes were also dug up, one of 
which is deposited amongst tlie collocliou of antiquities iu tho 
Pritish ]\[useum. 

In connectiiui with the navigation of the Witham, conuuunicatiou 
was etVected with tlie towns of Sleaford and llorucastJe by navi- 
gable canals, which were ronstructed uuder Acts granted in the 
Ji'ind year of Cieorge the Third's reign, — tho former by the widening 
and improving the Kymo Eau, which, from very early times, had 



57 

boon in a navif^'iiblo condition, jih Imforo rolbrrod to; nnd tlio luttor 
by miikin}^ a now cut to 'rattorHlmJI, and oxtcmdln^' tlio njuim) into 
tlio Hano n,nd rondcriji/^' tliat rivor navlf^ablo an far iiH I lornciiHtlo. 
]iy nioanH of tlio l*\)HHdylco, an luxMont canal (irHt niado by tlu^ 
KonianH, and Hid)Hoqn(Mitly cleaned out and <l(!(i|»cn(!(l liy llonry 
tbo FirHt, tlio Witbani waH c-onnoctod with tlio Trent and the vast 
ByHtem of water (tonniiMni('n,iion extenditif^ nearly nil over Mnj'hmd, 

'IMi(!se works of ini|>rovenient in the Withani did not meet with 
tbo {general a|)|)roval of tlni dintrictH concerned in the drainaj^'o. 
Tlio ])ro])riotors of lands on the west Hide of tho Witharn oin|»loy('d 
Mr. W. (!ba|)nian to advino tlieni, and in a report dated N(!WC!i.Htle, 
Jamiary 14, IHOH, bo HtatoH bin inost decided o[)inion tbat no 
improvomont could hooxpoctod until the (I rand SluicowaHroniovod. 
and tbo outfidl impi-oved hy Htrai/^btoniu}^ and <-onHninf^ tbo channel 
to d(!(!p water. TluiHo ronuirkH njtpear to ho wcill roun<l<;d, and 
tbo works aH carried out to bave Ixsen of nior<i advnrd,af^o to the 
navi^'ation than tho draina^'o ; lor not lon{^ ai'torwardH the fenrt 
adjoining' tbo river found it necoHHiiry to employ Htoani power to 
Hupphuit tboir old windmillH, wbicli wore do(!mod not equal to tho 
duty of |)um];)in}^oJf tho water with Hullicient raf)idityand re^'idarity. 
In order to prevent tluH expenditure, Mr. itoinn'o waH iiiHtructod 
by the (leiKiral (lommiMHionerH to report aH to the hest nie;i,nH of 
improvlii;^ the ontfdl and lowerin;^ tbo water in the Withiim 
HulIicieidJy to iiJIow of IJie draina.^'o of the lovvoHt liuidn by 
f^'ravitation ; and furtber an to tlio offoct on the f^'onoral intoroHtrt 
of tho truHtH by the pro|)OH(!d pUTni)inf^ HchemoH. 

Mr. Ronnie, in two nsportH made in tlui year )H'M), dnled 
reH|)octively tbo Otb of Auf^'unt and tbo 17tb Hept(!n»ber, admitK 
that the ntato of drainaj^'o in tbo firnt dintrict wan yavy im[)erfect, 
and tbat tbo cbiof inipedini(ud.H to tbo diHcbarf^'o of tbo watern aroHo 
frofn two cauM(!H the lirnt the obntructcd Htato of the ontfjiJI of 
JioHton Haven, botwoon tbo Grand Hluico and llobbolo ; and tb(? 



68 

second to tbo Grand Sluice and tlio inadequacy of the interior 
drains to convey tbo downfall waters into the Witham. With 
respect to the first, ho refers to the ini])rovements already carried 
out by the Corporation of Boston, by straightening the river and 
making the new cut through Burton's Marsh, and by the removal 
of the old wooden bridge with its piers, and the erection in its 
place of the present iron structure ; but he thought that tho 
outfall was capable of very considerable further improvement, and 
proposed a plan, tho particulars of which will bo treated of more 
fully in a succeeding chapter, and he also reconnnended tho 
making of a new cut through the Marshes from the lUack Sluico 
to Boll's Reach, at a cost of .185),81.S. 

For a removal of the second cause of impediment from the 
conlined state of tho outlet of the river, and the water constantly 
obliged to be held up for the purposes of navigation, he proposed 
that a new sluice should bo erected between tho Grand Sluice and 
the iron bridge ; from this a now cut should bo made, in a direct 
lino, to join the North Forty Foot, which was to be deepened and 
cleaned out ti> the Sleaford navigation, and from there the present 
line of the Hales Head Oyke should be enlarged and deepened 
as far as Washingborough, the estimated cost being .I'.'S'i.S?^. 

It is hardly necessary to say that these reconnnendations were 
not carried out, but the Commissioners, at a meeting held in 1882, 
passed several resolutions stating that it was their ()[)inii)n that 
the steam engines proposed to be erected by the tirst and third 
districts would prove injurious to the banks of the river and the 
draiu!iij:e of the other districts, and therefore they determined to 
oppose the powers sought to be obtaineil from Parliament by those 
parties. 

The next event in the history of the Witham was the construc- 
tion (^f the Great Northern Railway along its banks, and the iron 
road succeeded the river as tho great highway from Boston to 



59 

Lincoln. Tlio ri}:;htH ol' ilio pr()])ri(!t()rK woro tranfiforrcd to tho 

tlio (Jlroat, Noiilicru Kailway Oonipiiiiy by ilioir Act oi" IMi'y, unci 

tlicy now hold tho navi^^'ation in tlioir own hands, and Imvo 

assumed tho liabiliiius of tho on<^'inal owners. Those liabilities 

have since been a matter of considerable litif^ation. In tlie H[)ring 

of 1HG2, owii)},' to an nnusually heavy rainfall, tho river Witham 

became Hooded above its ordinary height, and on tho 28th March 

the bank of the South Delph gave way, the water pouring through 

tho breach and inundating a large tract of land in Branston Fen. 

An action was brought against tho Great Northern Hail way 

Company for compensation, the case (Cawdron v. Great Northern 

Railway Company) being tried at tho following Lincoln Summer 

Assizes, and a verdict given for the plaintilf. A iiile nid 

was obtained to set aside this verdict, on tho ground tliat tho 

judge at the trial had not allowed the question to go to tho jury 

as to whether the mischief had not been caused by default of tlui 

Witham Drainage Commissioners in not providing a proper outlet 

for tho waters in the river below Horsley l)ec])S, which had 

consequently backed up into tho South Delph, and so caused tho 

flooding. The rule was (subsequently discharged by tho Court 

of Exchequer, July (illi, IBd^J, iJuion iUjimwell remarking,**! 

desire not to have it supposed that I discharge tho rule because I 

am of opinion that tho Great Northern Railway Company would 

have been lial)le if the banks woro broken through tho water 

being pent bade upon them improperly by persons below ; but 

the rule is discharged upon tho ground that we cannot collect from 

the summing up of the learned judge that he took u diderent 

view on the trial." (Law TimeH Urports,) 'J'he state of theso 

banks and of tho river, the water in which at its upper end in 

heavy floods is often nearly on ft level with th(;ir top, has been a 

source of anxiety to the General Commissioners. 

On the 10th of March, IBGl, a deputation from the commission 

waited on Mr. Jlawkshaw, C.l^]., in London, to consult that 
II 



(TO 

gentleman witli reference to the state of the drainage, the immediate 
object being the improvement of the condition of the cast and 
west Fens, but Mr. Hawkshaw was also directed to turn his 
attention to a scheme for the general improvement of all the fens 
under the jurisdiction of the Witham Trust. The general scheme 
recommended by Mr. Hawkshaw was the old plan so often urged 
on the attention of the Commissioners, namely, the improvement 
of the outfall of the river by straightening the haven, and 
conducting the water in a confined channel to the sea, and so 
lowering the water throughout the whole level ; a fuller account 
of which will be given in a subsequent chapter. But insuperable 
difliculties seem over to have opposed themselves to a general 
scheme of this kind, and the Commissioners had to fall back on 
such measures as they could carry out themselves without the 
assistance of other trusts. IVIr. Hawkshaw was therefore directed 
** to examine and report on the state of the drainage of the river 
AVitham above the Grand Sluice, embracing the 1st, 3rd, and 6th 
districts, with a view to any improvement that could be effected." 
Mr. Hawkshaw accordingly, in the autumn of 1862, caused a 
survey to be made of the river from the Grand Sluice to Lincoln. 
AVith the data thus obtained, and from facts gathered from other 
sources, he drew up his report, and laid before the Commissioners 
the works that ho considered necessary for putting the upper part 
of the river in as efficient a state as possible under its present 
condition in connection with the navigation, the existence of the 
Grand Sluice, and the state of Boston Haven ; which, when 
completed, would enable the Commissioners to lower the height oi 
the water in the channel, and so improve the drainage of the lands, 
without hindering the navigation ; and by strengthening the banks, 
remove all cause of apprehension as to their safety. The estimated 
cost of the works was 4' 5 3,(1 00, the advantage to be gained by 
the drainage,^ — lowering, the level of the water in the Witham 
an averaffo of two feet. 



01 

The Comraissionors hesitated some time before adopting this 
scheme of interior improvement, but at last, finding that no 
general plan was likely to be successfully carried out, three years 
afterwards they obtained an Act " for the further improvement 
of the drainage and navigation by the River Witham," which 
received the Koyal Assent on the IDili of June, 18G5. Under 
the powers of this Act the Commissioners were authorised to 
execute the following works : — To deepen and scour out the river 
Witham, from a point about six miles above Boston to Horsley 
Deeps, so that the bottom should throughout this length be on a 
dead level ; to deepen and scour and strengthen the banks of the 
Old Witham, liarling Eau, Billinghay Skirth, and the several 
tributaries in connection with them ; to alter and lower the cills 
of the several sluices of the above streams, and also those of the 
Sleaford and Horncastle navigation, and the cills of the several 
delphs belonging to the parishes of Timberland, Metheringham, 
Stixwould, Dunston, Branston, and Washingborough, 

The Great Northern Railway Company, as the owners of the 
navigation, were authorised to scour out and deepen and strengthen 
the banks of the south Delph, and to lower the cill of Anton's 
Gowt and Horsley Deeps Locks, and re-build the latter, if 
necessary ; and for this purpose they were empowered to raise 
the sum of £10,000 by the creation of new capital to that extent. 
The General Commissioners were authorised to borrow a sum not 
exceeding £55,000 on mortgage of new taxes, to be levied for the 
purposes of this Act, the extinction of the debt being provided 
for by the re-payment of thirty-five annual instalments. The 
lands in the first, third, and fifth districts are taxed for these 
special works in four classes, as arranged by the Act of 1812, 
with an additional annual payment of three shillings, two shillings 
and sixpence, two shillings, and one shilhng per acre respectively. 

Another very necessary and important power was given to the 
Commissioners, namely, that of making bye-laws for the regulation 



62 

of the fishery, and other incidental rights and privileges attaching 
to the river and the drainage. It has been already mentioned 
that the Witham was, in olden times, renowned for the quantity 
and quality of its fish ; and if its fishery wore now placed under 
proper jurisdiction there is no doubt it would once again become 
a valuable property : but the general licence that has hitherto 
been accorded to poachers of all kinds, both to use and abuse the 
right of fishing, has almost totally destroyed the river as a means 
either of profitable production or recreation. The Commissioners 
now have power to make bye-laws, and appoint bailiffs to see that 
their orders are carried out ; and these once made and promulgated, 
offenders against the rules will be liable to penalties. As the 
carrviui]; out of stringent rules will be for the ireneral benefit of 
all in any way interostod in the pisciculture of the land, and of 
this district in particular, it is to be hoped that the Commissioners 
will feel the desirability of making and publishing bye-laws. 

There now only remains a mention of the fact that the works 
authorised to be executed by the last Act are at this time being 
carried out by Mr. Hoborrow, who has taken the contract, and 
who is at this time engaged in doopening the river by means of 
steam dredgers, the material excavated being deposited on the 
banks by a mud elevator specially invented and constructed by 
the contractor for this work. 



CllAL^TKIl 111. 

TIIK KA3T, WIGHT, AND WII-DMOUK I'KNS. 

Tlioso foiiH form tlio Fonrtli Disirict of tlio Witliiim CoinmiRHion, 
and ilio acconni of llicir loc-lainaiion bolorijjjH jn-oporly io Uio lunf. 
chaptor ; l)Mi. il. in coiiHidorod tliat iliolr liiMiory in of HiinicicMd, 
imporiauco io ddKctrvo a R()y)arato iioiico. 

Tlio Fimt Fon was ilio IhhI to bo oiicloHod in thin diHlrici, and 
the rocollootion of jniiiiy pornonH now livinf^ datoH bark to tho 
timo wlum "it aft'ordod litth^ IxMidil, to tlio icalni otlidi- tlntn lisli 
and fowl, with ovcrnnicli liii,rI>oiir to !i, nido.iiiid iiJiiiost l»arl»!i-rouM 
sort of la/y and hr.f^*]S,u,\'[y pcoplo." 'I'lio hUiU) of tlio tons boforo 
tbeir roolaniiilion luis boon doscribod as proHOJitin^' in tlio vvlnb^- 
soaHon, in Honio partn, tlio a])])oarM,n{5o of a chain of lakoH, bordorod 
by a thick cro}) of njodH ; and in otborn, of ono vant Hboot of 
wator, with nioundn or inlotH dotted horo and tlioro, on wbicli tho 
few and Bcattorod inhabitantH oroctod tlioir lintH ; and wIioho otdy 
way of access to ono aiiotluir, and of (^oriininnioation with tho 
towns or villa^'oH no!i,r, Wiis l)y moans of NiniiJI ho;i,ts or caiioos, 
which thoy paddled along with a polo, and alHO used In their 
fiBhing and fowling expcditionH. Living thiiH isolated and apart 
from all tho comforts and advaid-agoH of civili/ed life, deprived of 
tho humanising oflbct of charches and roligiouH instrnction, and 
tho kind caro and Hoothing inlluenco of a pastor, theso people 
woro in littlo hotter condition than the aborigintss of New Zeidand 
or Australia. Macanlay speaks of them as a half savage people, 
loading an amphibious life, somotimes rowing, sometimes wading 
fi'om ono lirm mound to another, and known as ** BreedhngB," a 



66 

namo whicli had sncccodod the nnciont *' Oirvii," and afterwards 
given place to that of " Fen Slodgors," by which appellation they 
were known np to the beginning of the present centnry.* 

These men were violently opposed to any attempts to alter the 
state of the fens, believing they liad a kind of vested interest in 
the fishing and fowling, by which they gained their scanty sub- 
sistence. Although their condition was very miserable, they 
Dovertheless enjoyed a sort of wild liberty amidst the watery 
wastes, which they were not disposed to give up. Though they 
might alternately burn and shiver with ague, and become 
premalurely bowed and twisted with rheumatism, still the fens 
were their native land, such as it was, and their only source of 
subsistence, precarious though it might be. The fens were their 
connnons on which their geese grazed. They furnished them with 
food, though the finding thereof was full of adventure and hazard. 
What cared the fenmen for the drowning of the land ? Did not 
the water bring them fish, and the fish attract wild fowl, which 
they oould snare and shoot ? Thus the proposal to drain the 
fens and convert them into wholesome and fruitful lands, however 
important in a national point of view, as enlarging the resources 
and increasing the wealth of the country, had no attraction 
whatever in the eyes of the *' slodgers." They muttered their 
discontent, imd everywhere met the reclaimers with opposition, 
and frequently assembled to fill up the cuts which the labourers 
had dug, and to pull down the banks which they had constructed ; 
and to such an extent was this carried that in some places the 
men had frequently to work under the protection of an armed 
guard. But theii* numbers were too few, and they were too widely 

• The on<:v;\vini» at the ond of this ohnpter is taken by pormissiou from Mr. 
Thotwpson's lUtitory of noston, to \vhon\ it was givou "by a friond whoso lueinory 
roaolu'il baclv noarly throo qiiartors of a contiiry. It roproscnts Mio oostumo and 
appoaranoo of two of tho ^7o(/(7t•/^J ri'tuvniiii: from a fowlinj; oxcursiou, aiul the 
i^ouoral ttppoiu\uico of tUo East Feu at that timo." 



• 67 

Kcattorod, to mako any combined oflVxrt at roHistanco. (Hmilen' 
Lives of tlir, EiKjiiirnrs.) In addilion to the oppoHiiion of tlio 
natives, oilier ii^^'encJeH were ])r()ii[^dit to bear uf^uinsi tli(3 fen 
drainers. Satirical poems and ballads wore composed and sung 
with groat a])plauHo in the fen towns, and their cause was even 
advocated by men of learning and social standing. Amongst 
others, Fuller in his history speaks oC Mio attempted enclosure of 
the fens as a trespass on the divine prerogativ(! for mati to |»((!,snuio 
to give other bounds to tlio water tiniii ilciJ, wliic-li (jiod had 
appointed ; and he intimates that Providence had specially left 
this district for thn production of lish and fowl, and of sedge, 
turf, and reeds. 

In winter time tin; fcins were almost entirely covered with water, 
poured on to tlidni fioni tlio liigli lands, by which they w(!ro 
bordered ; but in sunimor, wIkso this had draincid ii.way and 
evaporated, the greater pari of tlio land becanio covered with a 
coarse kind of grass, and adonhid ii foeding ground to the cattle 
of the fjirmers residing in the surrounding parishes, all of which 
had a right of common in ilieso fens. 

Bo early as the rei^^Mi of J'jdward VI. a code of fen laws had 
been enacted for defining the rights and privileges of the com- 
moners, and for the prevention of dis[)ui(!S and robbery. The 
lirst cod(!, drawn up by tlio great inquest of the soke of 
Bolinf^broke, held in 1548, was several times renewed, and together 
with additional laws, passed in Queen Elizabeth's reign, remained 
in force until the enclosure of the fens at the beginning of tho 
present century. The code consisted of seventy-two articles, a 
short summary of which may be interesting, as affording an 
insi^'ht into a state of society now passed away for ever. One 
of the first rules related to the brands or marks which each 
person stocking the fens was required to i)laco npon his cattle. 
Each parish had a separate mark, and no man was allowed to 



68 

turn cattle out to common until tliey were marked with the town 
brand. No foreigner or person not having common right was 
allowed to lisli or fowl at any time, or gather any tUi'^ary or 
fodder in the East Fen, without a licence from the approver, under 
a penalty of twenty shillings for each offence ; a like penalty was 
also attached to the following offences : — Putting diseased cattle 
on the fens ; disturbing the cattle by baiting with savage dogs ; 
for leaving any dead animal unburied for more than three days ; 
for putting swine on the fen unrung, or geese which were not 
pinioned and foot-marked ; for taking or leaving dogs there after 
sunset ; for bringing up crane birds out of the East Fen. No 
person was allowed to gather wool who was not above twelve 
years of age, except impotent persons ; no cattle were to be driven 
out of the fens except between sunrise and sunset ; all cattle were 
to bo " roided " out of the East Fen before St. Barnaby's day 
yearly ; no reed thatch, reed stai', or bolt was to be mown before 
it was two years' growth ; each sheaf of thatch gathered or bound 
up was to be a yard in compass ; wythes were only to be cut 
between Michaelmas and May-day. 

By a law, passed in Queen Elizabeth's reign, every township 
in the parts of Holland, claiming common in the West Fen, was 
ordered to show to the Queen's steward, at the next court-day, its 
charter or title to such common right. No swan, crane, or bittern 
eggs, or any eggs excepting those of ducks and geese, were 
allowed to be brought out of the fens. No fodder was to be 
mown in the East or West Fen before Midsummer-day annually. 
No person was allowed to use any sort of net or other engines to 
take or kill any fowl, commonly called moulted ducks, in any of 
the fens before Midsummer-day yearly. ( Tliompsoiis History of 
Boston.) A code of seventeen articles was also devised by the 
fishermen's jury, relative to the fish and fishing in the fens. The 
principal fish referred to were pike, eels, roach, and perch. 



69 

Camden, whose description of England was written before tlio 
cnclovsuro of the fens, gives a quaint account of the feathered 
tribes frequenting these parts. The narrative says : " that at 
certain seasons of the year, not to mention fish, amazing flights 
of fowl are found all over this part of the countr}'', not tho 
common ones which were in great esteem in other places, such as 
teal, quails, woodcocks, pheasants, partridges, &c., but such as 
have no Latin names, the delicacies of tables and the food of 
heroes, fit for tho palates of the great — puittes, godwittes, knots, 
which I take to mean Canute's birds, for they are supposed to 
come hither from Denmark ; dottorells, so called from their 
extravagant dotishncss, which occasions these imitative birds to 
be caught by candle-light. If he only puts out his arm they put 
out a wing, and if his leg they do the same ; in short, whatever 
the fowler does the bird does the same, till the net is drawn over 
it." Macaulay adds to this description by telling us that the 
marshes of Lincolnshire were covered during some months of 
every year by immense clouds of cranes. Nor must the mention 
of the fen nightingales or frogs be omitted, for they are said to 
have especially abounded. 

Tho Fens have long been celebrated for the large flocks of 
geese kept by the inhabitants, which were bred as much for tho 
sake of their feathers as for food. The practice was to pluck the 
small feathers from these birds five times a year, and the larger 
feathers and quills twice. This plan of taking the feathers from 
the geese when alive was not so cruel as at first sight it would 
seem to be, it being alleged that at the exact time when they were 
taken they were quite loose and separated easily, without pain, 
from the skin ; and the practice was justified from the fact that 
live quills were fiir superior to those taken from the birds when 
dead. Arthur Young in his survey of Lincolnshire gives the 
value '* of the feathers of a dead goose as worth six-penco, three 



70 

giving a pound ; but plucking alive does not yield more than three 
pence a head per annum. Some wing them every quarter. Taking 
the feathers from each goose, which will sell at five shillings per 
thousand, plucked geese pay in feathers one shilling a head in 
Wildmore Fen." The feathers of geese were considered superior 
to any others for stufiing beds, and large quantities are now 
imported from abroad to meet the demand which the Lincolnshire 
fens used to supply, and the quill has long since been almost 
superseded by the steel pen. Some proprietors used to have flocks 
of from one to two thousand geese, exclusive of goslings. During 
the breeding season the birds were lodged in the same house with 
the inhabitants, and even in their very bed chambers. Three 
rows of coarse wicker pens, placed one above the other, were fitted 
up in the houses ; each bird had its separate nest, which it kept 
possession of during the time of sitting. A gozzard, or goose- 
herd, used to attend to the flock, and twice a day drove the 
whole flock to the water, and would assist those that sat in the 
upper stories to their nests without misplacing a single bird. 
(GougKs and Camden's Brittania.) 

A notice of the ' decoys,' or receptacles for catching wild fowl, 
must not be omitted from this description of the peculiar institu- 
tions of these fens. 

Decoys were formerly very numerous and very profitable. Ten 
decoys in the West Fen, it is stated, during one winter furnished 
the enormous number of 31,200 birds. At the time of the 
original drainage of the Bedford Level, under the " Lynn law," 
the pools of the decoys, or " meeres," were specially excepted 
from the grants made to the undertakers, and they were restricted 
from draining them ; but the wild fowl has since had to yield to 
the drainer, and the site of the greater part of these inland lakes 
is now only indicated by their name — the mere having become 
dry land. A few still remain, the only one in this neighboui'hood 



71 

being at Friskney, from which large quantities of birds are still 
supplied to the markets of Boston and other places. A decoy is 
formed by pools surrounded by trees and plantations, and 
branching off from them are small channels or ditches called 
"pipes." At the time of catching the birds, these pipes are 
covered over with nets, which rest on hoops, and are terminated 
by a drawing net. Into these the wild fowl are enticed by various 
devices ; but the usual mode is by means of a decoy duck, trained 
for the purpose. This bird is taught to obey the whistle of the 
decoy man, who tempts it to swim up the trapping tunnel when 
he sees a number of wild fowl ; these following the tame one, and 
being led into the channel, are then enclosed and ultimately taken 
by the net. These decoy birds will fly away to sea in the morning, 
where meeting and consorting with strange birds during the day- 
time, at night they will lead them away inland to the decoy ponds. 
Dogs are also kept, who by their sagacity and training are of the 
greatest assistance to the keeper in drawing the birds into the 
nets. Of such importance were decoys deemed, that special acts 
of the legislature have been passed for their regulation and pro- 
tection. By an act passed in Queen Anne's reign, the clauses of 
which were re-enacted in the 10th year of George 11., it was 
made an offence against the law to take birds at unseasonable 
times, under a penalty of five shillings for every bird. Mallards, 
teal, and widgeon are the birds principally taken, and a good decoy 
is still a very lucrative concern. 

The prophecies of the decay which would fall upon the country 
if the race of fen-men were deprived of their valuable pools for 
pike, fish, and wild fowl, have long since been exploded. The 
population has grown in numbers, in health, and in comfort, with 
the progress of drainage and reclamation. The fens are no longer 
the lurking places of disease, but are as salubrious as any other 
part of England ; dreary swamps are supplanted by pleasant 



72 

pastures, and the haunts of pike and wild fowl have become the 
habitations of industrious farmers and husbandmen. But this 
result has only been arrived at by a vast amount of skill and 
labour, and the expenditure of large sums of money. It is the 
history of the various attempts which have been made to reclaim 
the East, West, and Wildmore Fens that will occupy the remainder 
of this chapter. 

The early history of the West and Wildmore Fens is included 
in that of the Witham ; such drainage as it had was provided 
under the direction of the Court of Sewers, by means of Anton's 
Gowt, and another small sluice at Maud Foster, which was the 
outlet to a natural sewer or di'ain which ran from Cowbridge to 
the Scire-beck, near Pedder's or Peter's Bridge, before Maud 
Foster drain was cut in 1631. The East Fen, being much lower 
and further removed from the high lands, and the religious 
establishments on the Witham, remained untouched till a much 
later period. 

In Queen Elizabeth's reign some idea was entertained of making 
an attempt for the recovery of the East Fen, and a survey was 
made by order of the Queen, from which it was estimated to 
contain 5000 acres or thereabouts ; and it was considered half of 
this, being the skirts, hills, and outrings could conveniently be 
drained ; but the other half, consisting of deep holes and pits, 
could not be recovered. Beyond the survey nothing further seems 
to have been attempted until the next reign, when, shortly after 
James the First's accession to the throne, a series of destructive 
floods burst the embankments of the fens on the east coast, and 
Bwept over farms, homesteads, and villages, drowning large 
numbers of people and cattle. The King, on being informed of 
the great calamit}^ which hacl befallen the inhabitants of the fens, 
principally through the decay of the old works of drainage and 
embankment^ declared that, for the honour of his kingdom, h« 



78 

would not any longer suffer these countries to be abandoned to 
the will of the waters, nor to let them lie waste and unprofitable ; 
and that if no one else would undertake their drainage, he himself 
would become the ''undertaker." But a measure of taxation for 
the recovery of these lands, which was accordingly proposed to 
the Commons, was rejected, and the King, restricted in his means, 
confined his attention to works on the Great Level of Cambridge- 
shire. 

In the sixth year of King Charles the First, a Court of Sewers 
was held at Boston, and Commissioners, specially appointed by 
the King, sat there to make enquiry into the state of this district. 
After hearing evidence on the subject, they recited that the 
whole of the fens, from the Witham to the coast, were drowned 
and surrounded lands most part of the year, and that these lands 
were capable of recovery, and they therefore decreed that a tax 
of ten shillings per acre should be levied for the repairs of the 
natural outfalls at Waynflete Haven, Black Gote, Symon Gote, 
Maud Foster Gote, New Gote, and Anton Gote, as also any other 
cuts or drains that should be found necessary to be made or 
enlarged. In default of payment of the tax, a bargain was to be 
made with Sir Anthony Thomas, who proposed to become the 
undertaker for the drainage for a certain quantity of the drowned 
land which was to become his property on his successfully 
completing the work. The tax not being paid, the fens were 
handed over to the undertakers, who, in September, 1631, 
commenced their works and made a New Cut or " great and 
navigable stream, three miles in length, from Cowbridge to the 
Haven, near Boston, and at the end of it the old Maud Foster 
Gowt was replaced by ' a very large gowt of stone and timber.' " 
They also made many other petty sewers, gutters, and streams, 
having their courses to the said main river, and over them were 
erected many bridges and other works, done with go much 



74 

diligence that three years after the commencement, a decree was 
made by the Court of Sewers " that, on a view of the late 
surrounded grounds, viz., East and West Fens, North Fen, Earles 
Fen, Armetro Fen, and Wildmore Fen, and other the drowned 
commons and adjacent surrounded grounds, lying on the north 
and north east of the river Witham, within the extent of tke 
said commission, they adjudged the same to be so drained as that 
they were fit for arable, meadow, and pasture. And that out of 
three thousand acres of pits, deeps, and holes which formerly 
existed, there now only remained sixteen hundred and seventy- 
three acres." And they confirmed to Sir Anthony Thomas a grant 
of one-half of the commons land in the East Fen, and a third of 
the scvcrals adjacent thereto ; and also one-fourth of the West 
Fen and the surrounded grounds adjoining. Two thousand five 
hundred acres of the lands so granted were made liable to the 
maintenance of the works, and the rents were to be paid into the 
hands of the Mayor of Boston, to be employed for and about the 
repairs of the bridges, gbtes, and drains, until they amounted to 
the sum of two thousand pounds, to the extent of which amount 
they were always answerable. (Dwjdale.) The total quantity 
acquired by the adventurers, as recompense for their undertaking, 
was altogether lG,oOO acres, which brought them a rental of 
£8000 a year. The amount expended in the drainage and recla- 
mation was £30,000, and they subsequently spent £20,000 in 
improving their lands and in constructing buildings. 

For seven years they enjoyed their occupation, building houses, 
sowing corn, and feeding cattle thereon ; at the end of that time 
the commoners, *' finding that done, of which they themselves 
despaired, made several clamoiu's, but finding no relief in time 
of peace, they resolved to tr^ if force and violence would compass 
that, which neither justice nor reason could give ; and to that 
end, a little before Edgebill fight, in 1642, they being incensed 



76 

by some then in faction, took arms, and in a riotous manner they 
fell upon the adventurers, broke the sluices, laid waste their lands, 
threw in their fences, spoiled their corn, demolished their houses, 
and forcibly retained possession of the land." 

The Adventurers, finding that the Sheriff and other local 
authorities could not afford them protection, petitioned the Houses 
of Lords and Commons. With the former thoy were successful, 
but being opposed by the Commoners failed to obtain an Act from 
the latter. The Commonoi's stated in their petition that Sir A. 
Thomas had not fairly obtained the decree from the Court of 
Sewers in the first instance ; that he had not fulfilled his bargain, 
as the lands — particularly in the West and Wildmoro Fens — were 
not improved by his works ; further that the quantity of land 
granted to him was excessive ; and that he was already well paid 
for what he had done by his seven years' possession. Having 
heard both parties, the House of Commons ordered that the 
Sheriff and Justices of the Peace should prevent and suppress 
riots, if any should happen, but expressly declared that they did 
not intend thereby to prejudice the parties interested in point of 
title to the lands, or to hinder the commoners in the legal pursuit 
of their interest. Upon this the parties commenced proceedings 
at common law against the Adventurers, in which they were 
successful. 

For about one hundred and fifty years these fens continued to 
be very imperfectly drained by the sewers and sluices provided by 
Sir Anthony Thomas, and their state during this period, as shown 
by the following description, proves that his scheme was very 
deficient, and that the Commoners were justified in the statements 
they made before the Houses of Parliament : — " The fen called 
the West Fen is the place where the ruffs and reeves resort in 
greatest numbers, and many other sorts of water fowl which do 
not require the shelter of reeds and rushes migrate hither to 



76 

breed, for this fen is bare, having been imperfectly drained by 
narrow canals which intersect it for many miles. Twenty parishes 
in the Soke of Bolingbroke have "right of common on it, but an 
enclosure is now in agitation. The East Fen is quite in a state 
of nature, and exhibits a specimen of what the country was before 
the introduction of draining. It is a vast tract of morass, inter- 
mixed with numbers of lakes, from half a mile to two or three 
miles in circuit., communicating with each other by narrow reedy 
straits. They are very shallow, none above four or five feet deep, 
but abound with pike, perch, rufis, bream, tench, dace, eels, &c. 
The reeds which cover the fens are cut annually for thatching 
not only cottages, but many very good houses. The multitudes 
of stares that roost in these weeds in winter break down many 
by perching on them. A stock of reeds well harvested and 
stacked is worth two or three hundred pounds. The birds which 
inhabit the different Fens are very numerous. Besides the 
common wild duck, wild geese, garganies, pochards, shovellers, 
and teals breed here, pewit, gulls, and black terns abound : a few 
of the great terns or tickets are seen among them. The great 
crested grebes, called gaunts, are found in the East Fen. The 
lesser crested, the black and dusky, and the little grebe, cootes, 
water-hens, and spotted water-hens, water-rails, ruffs, red- shanks, 
lapwings or wypes, red-breasted godwits, and whimbrels are 
inhabitants of these fens. The godwits breed near Washing- 
borough, three miles east of Lincoln ; the whimbrels only appear 
for a fortnight in May and then quit the country." (Camden.) 
The reeds referred to in the above description grew in great 
numbers in the fens before the drainage and reclamation. They 
are described as having had the appearance, when growing, of 
extensive fields of wheat. In the latter part of the summer they 
were cut down and reaped like corn, and afterwards carefully 
dried and dressed, and being tied in bundles or sheaves were sold 



77 

for thatching houses. Great numbers of houses and barns, and 
even the churches bordering on the Fens of Norfolk, were covered 
vnth this thatch. It made a neat and endurable cover, and lasted 
for thirty or forty years. 

In the year 1800 Mr. Eennie was directed by the Witham 
Commissioners to report on the drainage of the East, West, and 
Wildmore Fens, and after a sm'vey made he delivered his report, 
bearing date April 7th, a second report being presented on the 
1st of September. 

From these it appears that the drainage of the Wildmore and 
part of the West Fen was made through Anton's Gowt, by means 
of the sluice erected by the Witham Commissioners at the time 
the river was straightened, as detailed in the preceding chapter, 
the cill of which was two feet above the cill of the Grand Sluice. 
Through this sluice also were discharged the waters from the high 
country lying in the lordships of Kirkby, Revesby, Mareham, 
Tumby, and Coningsby, but in times of flood the Witham over- 
rode the waters from these parts, and they were driven back 
through Medlam Drain and West House Skye to Cherry Corner, 
whence it found its way by Mill- drain or Stone Bridge -drain to 
Maud Foster's Go^vt, which consisted of a single opening, 13 feet 
wide, its cill being three inches lower than the cill of the Grand 
Sluice. Low water of spring tides at that time stood about four 
feet nine inches on the cill, and the general surface of the lands 
in the West and Wildmore Fens was nine feet above the cill, 
allowing a fall of four feet three inches from the surface to low 
water mark. The lowes' ' d in the Fen, called "No Man's 
Friend," was one foot br 3 rest, and in the autumn of 1799 

was covered with water depth. The total quantity of land 

in Wildmore Fen was :es of high lands, and 7714 acres 

of Fen lands ; in thr i 5473 high lands, and 11,451 of 

Fen lands : a total ' acres. 



78 

The East Fen and East Holland towns were very imperfectly 
drained by Maud Foster's Gowt. Fishtoft and Butterwick had 
separate sluices, under the control of the Court of Sewers ; and 
part of the water of Friskney was raised by a water engine, and 
sent to sea by a small gowt. The general surface of the East Fen 
and of Wrangle Common was found to be about eight feet above 
the cill of the old Maud Foster Sluice. The East Fen was 
computed to contain 12,424 acres, and the East Holland towns 
26,000 acres. 

The scheme recommended by Mr. Rennie, and adopted by the 
Commissioners, will be more fully detailed hereafter. A veiy 
strong feeling prevailed that the whole of the drainage of the East 
Fen should be discharged into the river at the old outlet at Maud 
Foster, on the principle that for the preservation of an outfall the 
tributary stream should be conducted to its channel at the highest 
point possible. Others more intimately connected with the district 
contended that the main object to be sought was the efficient 
drainage of the fens, irrespective of other considerations, and 
therefore advocated a new cut to Wainfleet Haven ; while a third 
plan was that which was finally adopted, being a compromise 
between the two, by which the water was to be conveyed by a new 
cut through the centre of the East Fen, discharging into the river 
near Fishtoft Gowt. 

Mr. Rennie dismissed the Wainfleet Haven Scheme as incom- 
patible with a thorough system of drainage, and being concerned 
in the improvement of the outfall, as engineer to the General 
Commissioners, reccommended Mau'^ "^ oster as the outlet, but at 
the same time he distinctly stated . ^o efficient drainage for 
the lowlands could be obtained thei iss the river was to be 

greatly improved by straightening )emng it, a measure 

which he urged very strongly on th ion of Boston, and 

as this plan would effect a saving o. 28,000 as against 



79 

that of making a new cut to Hobhole, he recommended that ''the 
East Fen in consequence of this saving should contribute Hberally 
to the improvement of Boston Haven ; and also that as the waters 
of the West and Wildmore Fens would also obtain a better outfall, 
it should be a consideration whether they also should not con- 
tribute to the expense." 

These reports being brought before the Corporation, they 
expressed their willingness to contribute one-half the expense of 
straightening the river from Maud Foster to Hobhole, as recom- 
mended by Mr. Bennie. This was not deemed sufficient by 
the Drainage Commissinners, and finally, after a great deal of 
consideration of the several schemes, they determined that the 
water from the uplands and the West and Wildmore Fens should 
be conducted to Maud Foster, but that the outfall of the drainage 
from the sock and downfall of the East fen should be near Fishtoft 
Growt. This decision failed to give general satisfaction, and one 
pamphleteer, in a letter addressed to the Commissioners, asks 
how many pails of water they expect will pass down Maud Foster 
Drain, and observes, "If this drain is executed upon the proposed 
dimensions, from the sluice to Cowbridge, there will not be a 
supply of water to cover that drain above one inch deep." 

The scheme being settled, an Act was obtained in 1801 '' for 
the better and more effectually draining certain tracts of land, 
called Wildmore Fen and the West and East Fens, in the county 
of Lincoln, and also the low lands and grounds in the several 
parishes, townships, and places, having right of common in the 
said fens, and other lowlands and grounds lying contiguous or 
adjoining thereto." By this act the boundaries of the Fourth 
District of the Witham Commissioners were extended, and made 
to include the East Fen and the lowlands in Wrangle. This area 
was still further enlarged by a subsequent Act in 1818, 58 Geo. 
III., cap ix., and the lowlands in Great Steeping, Thorpe, Irby, 



80 

Firsby, Bratoft, Croft, and Wainfleet All Saints added. The Act- 
obtained in 1801 was amended by another Act in 1803, and 

again in 1818. 

Under the powers of these Acts the following works were 

executed for the drainage of the fens by Mr. Eennie. 

The highland water was taken up by a catchwater drain skirting 

the boundary of the East Fen. This drain commenced near 

Little Steeping, and discharged its waters into the West Fen 

catchwater drain at Cherry Comer. Its length is about seven 

miles, and its bottom was made to an inclined plane of six inches 

fall per mile. 

The lowland waters were provided for by a new cut, commencing 

near Toynton, passing through the centre of the East Fen, and 

discharging at Hobhole, where a sluice was built, the cill of 

which was laid five feet below that of the Grand Sluice, or two 

feet below the then average of low water spring tides in the river. 

It has three openings of fifteen feet each, and the drain, from its 

outfall to the junction, at Freiston Common, was made with a 

bottom forty feet wide, diminishing gradually from that point 

to twelve feet at its termination, near Toynton St. Peter's. The 

length of the cut is fourteen miles, and it was laid out with a fall 

of five inches per mile. 

The following new cuts were also made in connection with 

Hobhole Drain : — Barlode Drain was cleaned out, deepened, and 

extended, and made to communicate with Hobhole Drain at a 

point opposite White Cross Drain, and running thence in a 

westerly dii'ection till it joined the catchwater drain : this was 

made sixteen feet wide. Lade Bank Drain was scoured and 

deepened and enlarged to a ten feet bottom, from North Dyke 

Bridge to the Main Drain, ^nd thence continued in an easterly 

direction along the Fen Dyke bank to lands in the parish of 

Friskney. Steeping Biver was straightened, widened, deepened, 



St 

and embanked, so as to prevent its flooding the low lands ; as 
also the Great Steeping Beck, and the several sewers and drains 
in connection. 

For the drainage of the West and Wildmore Fens a catch- 
water drain was made, skirting the adjacent high lands. It 
commences near the junction of the river Bane with the Witham, 
in the parish of Coningsby, and passing through Tumby, 
Mareham, and Revesby, to Hagnaby, thence turns south to Cow- 
bridge, receiving the East Fen catchwater at Cherry Corner. 
From this point it was intended that it should continue, by a 
distinct cut, with thirty feet bottom, parallel with Maud Foster 
to the Haven, and discharge at a new sluice to be built at the 
side of Maud Foster, so that the high and low land waters should 
have separate outlets ; but by the amended Act, obtained in 
1803, the Commissioners were authorised to omit the making of 
the new cut from Cowbridge to the Haven and the erection of the 
additional sluice, and instead to make the existing arrangement 
by which the upland waters flow to sea by means of Maud 
Foster Drain, and provision made as hereafter described for the 
West Fen waters to flow into Hobhole, when over-ridden by them. 
This catchwater drain is about eighteen miles in length, and the 
bottom was made to an inclined plane rising six inches in the 
mile. The width of the bottom, at the lower end, is eighteen 
feet, diminishing gradually to eight feet at its commencement 
near Coningsby. 

The old Maud Foster Gowt was pulled down, and a new sluice 
built, with three openings of thirteen feet four inches each ; the 
cill being laid one foot nine inches below that of the Grand 
Sluice. The drain was deepened and widened to Cowbridge, the 
bottom being made thirty feet wide, and rising six inches per mile. 
Across this drain, at Cowbridge, a sluice is erected, with pointing 
doors to prevent the water from the high lands, which discharges 



82 

bolow this point, from backing np into the fons. Above the 
doors a communication is made to admit the West and Wildmore 
Fen waters into Hobhole Drain when they are above the gauge 
weir, and in danger of Hooding the k)w hinds. This drain, 
called New Dyke, passes under the catch water drain, the waters 
of which are convoyed over it by a stone aqueduct, having throe 
arches or openings of twelve feet each, and joins Hobhole Drain at 
Freiston Common. There was a stop or weir above the aqueduct, 
made to a proper height for the purpose of sending all the water 
that was possible through Maud Foster Gowt at ordinary times ; 
but as soon as the water rose within two feet of the surface of 
the lowlands it ran over the weir. In times of flood, when the 
water was within one foot of the medium surface of the lowest 
lands, the doors were opened and the water allowed to flow freely 
to Hobhole. There is also a side cut near this place, in which 
is a lock to allow of the passage of boats from the West Fen to 
Hobhole Drain. 

This restriction as to the passage of the waters out of the West 
Fen through Now Dyko into Hobhole Drain was withdrawn in 
the Act obtained in the session of 1867, and the Commissioners 
have power now to allow the stop doors to remain open for the 
six winter months, so that the West Fen waters will be discharged 
at Hobhole instead of at Maud Foster as formerl3% 

From Cowbridge the drainage is provided for by the West Fen 
drain, which is a straight cut, with a thirty-feet bottom, as far 
as the junction with Medium drain, at Mount Pleasant, where it 
turns to the west and joins Newham drain ; thence along How- 
bridge drain to the end thereof, at Little Wildmore, near Dogdyke, 
where the bottom was made only eight feet wide. It has an 
average inclination throughoirt its whole length of about nine and 
a half miles of live inches per mile. Modlam Drain is the 
principal outlet for the Wost Feu, commencing at the West Fon 



88 

Prain, nt Mount Pleasant, and oxtonding to Rovosby. It was 
mado oightoon foot in width at tho bottom, diminishing fjradnally 
to twelve feet at its upper end. Tlio lengtli is upwards of six 
miles, and tho bottom has a rise of five inches per mile. Thero 
is another cut for tho purpose of draining* the south part of 
Wildmoro Fen, commencing at tho West Fen Drain, at Cow- 
bridge, and extending on tlie south side of Frith Bank enclosure 
to Anton Gowt into Newham Drain, and thence along Castle 
Dyke and Long Dyke Drains. This drain was mado sixteen feet 
in width at the bottom, at its junction with tho West Fen Drain, 
dimhiishing to eight feet at tho upper end. The length is about 
eight miles, and tho rate of inclination was laid out at four and a 
half inches per mile. There are several other small drains for 
tho purpose of collecting the surface water and conveyhig it into 
tho mains, which it is not necessary to describe. 

Tho general surface of tho lowlands in tho West Fen was, at 
tho time of the completion of the drainage, about eleven feet 
above the cill of Maud Foster Sluice, but a portion of tho surface 
of Wildmoro Fen was a foot lower than this. The surface of 
tho highest part of tho East Fen was about the same level, but 
a great deal of it was a foot lower, and tlie lowest parts, formerly 
the Deeps, were only nine feet above Hobhole cill. 

To meet tho expenses of carrying out and maintaining theso 
works tho General Commissioners were authorised lo levy 
additional rates on Wildmoro and the West Fens, to the oxient 
of fourponce per acre, so long as they remained common hinds ; 
but on their enclosure, the rate might be raised to one shilling 
per acre. On tho East Fen a tax of one shilling per acre was 
imposed on the lands held in severalty — eiglitpcnce per acre on 
half-year lands, and fourpcnce on common lands, to be raised to 
one shilling on their enclosure. They wove also authorised to 
enclose and sell six hundred acres of the common land, tho 
proceeds to bo apphod towards tho cost of tho drainage. 



84 

For carrying out the improvement of the Steeping river » the 
estimated expense of which, together with other works incidental 
thereto, amounted to £28,914 ; the proprietors of the land liable 
to be flooded were to contribute the sum of £18,627, to be assessed 
on their lands, and the General Commissioners, on receipt of 
this sum, were to execute the whole of the works. 

The first stone of Hobhole sluice was laid March 7th, 1805, 
and it was opened September 3rd, 1806. The first stone of the 
new Maud Foster sluice was laid 21st of May, 1806, and the 
sluice was opened the following year. 

Acts of Parliament were subsequently obtained for the enclosure 
of the common lands, (41 Geo. III., cs. 100, 141, 142, Acts for 
Enclosing the Wildmore and East and West Fens ; 42 Geo. III. 
c. 108 ; 50 Geo. Ill, c. 129.) A certain portion was decreed to 
the impropriators in lieu of tithes ; the Duchy of Lancaster took 
a twentieth part in lieu of manorial rights ; another portion was set 
apart for churches and roads ; and the remainder awarded to the 
proprietors of toftsteads and lands within the respective parishes. 

Fom'teen thousand acres of Iflnd sold by the Commissioners, 
acting under the powers of the Enclosure Acts, together ydih 
other extra parochial lands, were subsequently formed (52^Geo.III. 
c. 144) into seven separate townships called respectively East Ville, 
Midville, Frithville, Carrington, Westville, Thornton-le-Fen, and 
Langri ville. 

The allotted roads were at first maintained and repaired by the 
several townships through which they pased, certain land having 
been awarded by the Commissioners for supplying the materials ; 
but subsequently, disputes having arisen, some of the new parishes 
refused to maintain and repair them, and consequently the roads 
became utterly neglected and almost impassable. In winter time 
the ruts were so deep that no light conveyance could safely pass 
over the roads, and it was not an uncommon occurrence for 



85 

vehicles to become so embedded in the mud that the driver had 
to seek the assistance of some neighbouring farmer to extricate 
his waggon with the aid of several horses. This state of things 
remained in this condition till within the last thirteen years, when 
on its being decided that the award of the Commissioners who 
bad allotted the land for the roads and for their repairs was 
inoperative, as they had exceeded their powers, an Act of 
Parliament was obtained for the better regulation and maintenance 
of the highways. Previous to this being done, it had been attempted 
by an indictment against one of the parishes, through which the 
roads passed, to compel the parishes to repair them ; but the 
case being carried to the Court of Queen's Bench, the decision was 
given in favour of the Parish. Several influential owners and 
occupiers of land in the neighbourhood then met together and 
determined to put an end to this disgraceful state of affairs, and 
in 1853 an Act, 16 and 17 Vic, cap. 115, was obtained " for 
the better maintenance and repair of the highways in Wildmore 
and the East and West Fens," by which it was enacted that the 
whole of the roads set out under the enclosure awards as public 
ways should be deemed highways, and be made subject to the 
same laws and regulations as governed the highways throughout 
the country. 

The drainage of the fens, as already narrated, was completely 
effective. Mr. Bower, reporting to the Bedford Level Corpora- 
tion, in 1814, says : " It is satisfactory to state that every wished- 
for object in the drainage of the whole of the fens and of the 
low lands adjoining is effectually obtained, and the lowest land 
brought into a state of cultivation. The East Fen deeps are so 
perfectly drained, and so confident are the proprietors of this, 
that part of them now forms a considerable farm-yard; but 
stronger proofs of this than mere assertion have now been had. 
There have been within the last five years several extraordinary 



86 

floods and high tides, which have not in the smallest degree 
affected the works or low lands ; and at this moment of time, 
when the low lands in every part of the kingdom are overflowed 
by an ice flood, the East, West, and Wildmore Fens and low 
lands adjoining are perfectly free, and as ready for all agricultural 
purposes as the high country lands." However true this statement 
may have been at the time it was written it is scarcely correct 
now. Two causes have conduced to the alteration. By the 
complete drainage of the spongy soil of the East Fen, and its 
consolidation by working, the surface has subsided from one to 
two feet. On the other hand, the channel of the outfall from 
Hobhole to the deeps has been raised from its former level by 
the deposit of silt, arising from the general encroachment of the 
sands on the sea on this coast, and the neglect of proper training 
works. To such an extent has this occurred that low water level 
of spring tides which, at the time of the erection of Hobhole 
sluice, stood only two feet on the cill, now is constantly from six 
to seven feet, and in times of flood as much as eight and even 
ten feet ; so that, owing to the subsidence of the land on the one 
hand and the deterioration of the outfall on the other, the good 
effects originally felt by this drainage are in a great measure 
neutralised, and in wet seasons the low lands are liable to be 
flooded and the crops destroyed. 

In the winter of 1866 a long continued and heavy downfall of 
rain clearly demonstrated the system of drainage in its present 
condition to be quite inadequate to the discharge of the water. 
A very large area of land in the East Fen was for many weeks 
completely under water. Viewed from Keal-hill the level was 
described as having the appearance of one extensive lake, the 
course of the drains being undistinguishable from the sub- 
merged lands. Occupiers, in some cases, had even to use boats 
to pass from one part of the farm to the other, and the roots 
stored in the fields were rendered quite inaccessible. 



I 



87 

So far back as 1861 Mr. Hawkshaw was applied to by the 
General Commissioners to advise them on the drainage of this 
district, and requested to devise a plan for draining the Fourth 
District, and also an alternative scheme, which, while improving 
this particular tract of land, would also be more general in its 
application. In 1865 Mr. Welsh, the surveyor to the Com- 
missioners, was also directed to report to them on the drainage 
of the Fourth District. From these reports it appears that the 
Fourth District, including the East, West, and Wildmore Fens, 
and Five Thousand Acres, has a taxable area of 57,200 acres. 

About 25,000 acres of land in the East Fen, and 15,000 in 
the West and Wildmore Fens, are below ordinary flood level ; 
and while the larger portion of the West and Wildmore Fens, 
and the land draining into Hobhole Drain below Lade Bank, are 
comparatively uninjured by the water in the drains, rising to 
eleven feet above the cill of Hobhole Sluice, a considerable 
portion of the East Fen lying to the north of Lade Bank is, 
when the water rises to that height, incapable of being drained 
by gravitation to Hobhole. The portion of the East Fen, 
including lands draining into it, which extend north of Lade 
Bank, amounts to about 30,000 acres. About one-half of this 
quantity lies at so low a level as to require for its effectual 
drainage that the water at Hobhole should not rise higher than 
about seven feet above the cill ; but that level is one foot below 
low water of the Witham outside of Hobhole Sluice in times of 
flood, which then rises to eight feet above the cill, and it is for 
this reason that these low lands cannot on those occasions drain 
naturally by Hobhole. 

The general scheme recommended by Mr. Hawkshaw will be 
referred to fully in another chapter ; it is not necessary, there- 
fore, to make further allusion to it here. The local plan he 
advised was placing draw doors across Hobhole Drain, near Lade 



88 

Bank bridiio, and the croction of a pumping ongino of ISO horse- 
power at that spot to Hft the flood waters from the northern to 
tho southern sido of tlie doors ; the maximum of tho lift being 
assumed at five feet, and the exti*emo effect on the di*ain below 
the dooi*s — the raising of the water during the time tho sea doors 
wore shut by the tides eighteen inches ; the estimated cost being 
,€15,000 for engines, pumps, draw-doors, land, and works, and 
A'oOOO parliamentiUT expenses, &c. ; the annual outlay for 
interest and repayment of principal money borrowed, spread over 
85 yeai's, being taken at .€1850, and for working expenses and 
maintenance €1250, together .€2G00, equal to a t{\x of about 
eleven pence over the whole district for tho flrst 85 years, and of 
tivopenco per acre afterwai'ds. This scheme having been fully 
considered at a meeting of the Commissionere held in July, 1861, 
it was then resolved : — 1. That a (jruenrl plan improving all 
drainage is preferable to a local one ; and also that a natural 
drainage is preferable to sui artificial one. 2. That the Fourth 
District ought not to pay towards tho general plan a sum larger 
than it would have to expend for its own local drainage. 8. That 
if the benefit is, as Mr. llawkshaw anticipates, distributed to all 
the huids in the Fourth District, all tlie hinds should pay according 
to tho actual benefit i-oceived (the rate to be left to arbitration, 
the maximum being fixed at three shillings and tlie minimum at 

fourpence per acre) 10. That it would be desirable 

first to attempt to carry out tlie general plan. 11. That in the 
event of tlie otJier parties interested not being able or \\-illing to 
carry out their share oi the expenses of the general plan, then 
it would be expedient to have recourse to Mr. Hawkshaw's pro- 
posed local plan of dmiuing the disti'ict by steam power. 

Notwithstsvnding these resolutions the matter remained in 
abeyance until the year 18G6, when the Fourth District Com- 
missioners, despairing of any general scheme being carried out, 



89 

decided on applying to Parliament for the uocossary powers to 
enable them to erect a pnmping engine at Lade I^ank for the 
relief of the East Fen north of that point ; and for the better 
ih-ainage of the West and Wildmore Fens by the removal of the 
restriction placed on the stop -doors at Oowbridgo, so that the 
water should bo allowed to run froi^ly out of the West Fen drain 
by Nowdyke or Junction drain to llobhole. And also for power 
to raise the sum of i' 20,000 an mortgage to pay for the works, 
and to levy a tax, not exceeding sixpence per acre, on the limd, 
in addition to the two sliillings on the West and Wildmore Fens, 
and one shilling on the East Fen, already sanctioned by former 
Acts. The Withani Drainage Act, 18G7, received the royal 
assent on the 15th Jul}-, 18G7. 

Some objection was raised to this scheme at the time, on 
the ground that the greater portion of the land, the waters from 
which would have to bo raised by steam power, was at so high a 
level as to render such a process perfectly. unnecessary, and it 
was contended that means should bo devised for se}iarating the 
water of the East Fen proper from that of the Five Thousand 
Acres and the Steeping District, which lies considerably above it. 
Mr. Welsh, in his report, had advised that these waters should be 
cut ofl' from the pumps by stopping the Bell Water Drain where 
the railway crosses it, and that thoy should be convoyed thence to 
Fountain's Sewer by a new cut along the side of the railway, and 
thence to llobhole Drain by Fountain's Sewer, enlargod. Mr. 
David Martin, also, in a pamphlet addressed to the Commissioners, 
recommended that Bell-water Drain should bo made a catch- 
water for conveying these high-land waters to the sea, and that a 
new drain should be cut on the west side of Hobhole Drain, from 
Fodder Dyke Drain to Bardolph Drain, with other alterations in 
the arrangements of the several sewers, so that the waters from 
the lower part of the East Fen might bo conveyed to an engine 



90 

to be erected on the west bank of Hobhole, about half way 
between Fodder Dyke and Bardolph. By carrying out this scheme 
the engines might have been of much less power, and having 
less work to do, an annual saving in working expenses would be 
effected ; but then on the other hand it was deemed that the 
increased outlay in purchase of land, and the annual interest, 
would make the result in the end nearly the same. Mr. 
Hawkshaw's plan was therefore capied out as originally devised. 

The new Pumping works are situated at Lade Bank, on the 
west side of Hobhole Drain, on lands formerly belonging to 
Hunston's Charity. They consist of two pairs of high pressure 
condensing steam engines, working two of Appold's centrifugal 
pumps. The fan of each pump is of brass, seven feet in diameter, 
driven by a wrought-iron, vertical shaft and bevil pinion wheel, 
and is connected to one pair of engines. The diameter of the 
cylinders of the engines is thirty inches, and the stroke thirty 
inches. The steam is supplied by six Cornish boilers, each twenty- 
three feet long and six feet five inches in diameter, the safe 
pressure being sixty pounds on the inch. One pump and its 
pair of engines forms a complete and independent machine, calcu- 
lated to lift the water six feet above the drainage level. The 
pumps, engines, and boilers are contained in two large brick 
buildings, with iron roofs covered with slates, the pump races being 
directly under the engines. The chimney shaft is twelve feet 
square at the base and ninety feet in height, finished at the top 
with stone corbels, and a cast iron ornamental cap weighing 
three tons. 

The dam across the drain consists of two sluices, with self-acting 
doors pointing down the drain, with a lock in the centre. The 
lock is seventy feet long and twelve feet wide ; the total water 
way, being thirty-six feet. These works, as well as the foundations 
for the engines, are constructed of bricks laid in hydraulic lime, 



91 

and coped with Bramley Fall stone. The contract for the works 
was taken by Messrs. Easton and Amos, of London, and they 
have been carried out under the superintendence of Mr. H. C. 
Anderson, the cost being £17,000. 

There is no doubt that the benefit to the occupiers of land in 
the East Fen from these works will be very considerable ; — 
the payment of the small additional tax of sixpence per acre 
required towards the expenses of working the engines, and the 
repayment of the money borrowed, will bear no comparison to 
the annual loss sustained by the destruction of crops from the 
constant flooding to which this fen has been subject. The passing of 
the West Fen waters, also, by the way of Hobhole drain will greatly 
facilitate the discharge of the drainage from the West Fen, yet it 
can only be regarded as a matter of expediency. The diversion 
of waters from their ancient outfall at Maud Foster sluice, to a 
point much lower down the river, militates against a general prin- 
ciple, which teaches that for the preservation or improvement of 
a tidal river, the tributary streams should be conducted to its 
channel at the highest possible point. The introduction of steam 
power also for the main drainage of the East Fen must be regarded 
as an unfortunate precedent. The principle by which the engineers 
were guided in laying out the drainage of the fens of this district 
was that of gravitation, and there is no doubt that this system 
would be fully eflfective if only a good outfall were secured. The 
diversion of funds to the erection of these engines adds to the 
already numerous difficulties in bringing about a joint scheme 
affecting the whole drainage of the district by an improvement of 
the outfall, and seems to place the accompHshment of that object 
at a greater distance than ever. 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE BLACK SLUICE DISTRICT. 



The district included in the ahove heading is all that area of 
land which pays taxes to the Black Sluice Commissioners ; 
consisting of the 2nd and 5th Witham districts, Holland Fen, 
and what Dugdale calls the Lyndsey Level. It is bounded on 
the north by Kyme Eau, the river Witham, and the town of 
Boston ; on the east by the high lands in the parishes of Skirbeck 
Quarter, Wyberton, Kirton, Swineshead, Donington, Gosberton, 
and Pinchbeck ; on the south by the Glen and Bourn Eau ; and 
on the west by the Car Dyke, which passes near to Bourn, 
Rippingale, Billingborough, Horbling, Helpringham, and Heck- 
ington. The taxable area is 64,395 acres, but the total quantity 
of land which discharges its water into the Witham, through the 
Black Sluice, is about 134,351. 

The outlet for the drainage of this district is at the Black 
Sluice, in Skirbeck Quarter. The main drain is the South 
Forty Foot river ; which runs through the centre of the fen, and 
is 21 miles in length ; receiving throughout its course the contents 
of about 30 other drains, the principal of which are the North 
Forty Foot, the Clay dyke and the Old Hammond beck. 

According to Dugdale, the first mention made of this portion 
of the fens occurs in the reign of Henry I., who made it a royal 
forest, in which condition it remained until Richard I., by his 
charter to the monastery of Spalding of the towns of Spalding 
and Pinchbeck, with the lands, waters, and marshes to them 
belonging, did acquit the inhabitants of those places from all 
duties belonging to the forests ; as also of harts and hinds with 



93 

all other wild beasts ; and of all forest customs and exactions 
which used to be there done or required ; so that no forester or 
any other might thereupon vex or disquiet them ; and moreover, 
gave them licence to make banks and ditches to inclose their 
lands and marshes ; and also to build houses, and exercise 
tillage as they themselves should think fit. 

In Henry the Third's reign, an order was made by the King 
that, after the boundaries were properly fixed, the Hauthunter 
(Holland) Fen, extending from Swineshead to Dogdyke, should 
be divided, with the consent of those who had right therein ; 
and subsequently, in the 44th year of his reign, the Kng, 
"directing his precept to the Shirereeve of the county, whereby 
taking notice that not only the landowners in those parts, but 
himself, had suffered inestimable damage by the overflowing of 
the sea, and likewise of the fresh waters, through the default in 
the repairs of the banks, ditches, gutters, bridges, and sewers in 
the lands which lately belonged to William Longespe, in the 
Parts of Kesteven and Holland, he commanded the said Shire- 
reeve forthwith to distrain all such landholders who had safeguard 
by those banks and ditches, and ought to repair them according 
to the proportion of their lands, to the end that they might be 
speedily repaired in such sort as they ought and had used." 

In Edward the Second's reign a commission was appointed to 
view the fens. They made a survey and presentment as to the 
whole of the banks and drains, minutely setting out their 
condition, and whose duty it was to repair and maintain them ; 
from which it appears that the northern part of the level drained 
into Kyme Eau by means of a river called Bridgefleet, the cleaning 
and repairing of which belonged to the town of Heckington as 
far as the river at Swineshead, the channel being sufficient to 
carry the water down to Kyme Mouth. The rest of Holland 
Fen drained by a sewer, called the Encluse, near Boston, three 

M 



94 

feet in width, which discharged near the west end of the bridge, 
and also by the Hammond beck, which was kept in repair by 
Boston and Skirbeck Quarter ; in consideration whereof the men 
of Boston, Hving at the west end of the said bridge, had common 
rights in the marsh of the Eight-hundi'eds. The rest of the 
sewer, extending to Blalberdeboche, Swinesheved, and Byker, 
was to be repaired by the town of Swineshead. The other sewers 
then in existence, and the places liable to their repair, were as 
follows : — The Swyneman dam and Swane-lade, 16 to 20 feet 
wide passing near Donington, Quadring, and Gosberton, to 
Bicker Haven, and repaired by those parishes ; Risegate Ees 
(Rysegate Eau), extending from Gosberton to the sea, belonging 
to the parish of Gosberton; the sewer of the Beche, running 
from Pinchbeck north fen to the sea, belonging to the parishes of 
Pinchbeck and Surfleet ; Burne Aide Ee (Bourn Old Eau), running 
from Bourn through Surfleet to the sea ; the first portion from 
Bourn to Gutheram cote, belonging to the town and the Abbot 
of Bourn jointly ; and thence the Surfleet, belonging to the 
town of Pinchbeck, and after that to Surfleet. Dunsby was 
drained by a sewer called the Soud ; Hacconby, by one called 
Fenbrigg. 

After this several commissions were issued to view the state of 
the fens and fix the boundaries, the particulars of which are only 
a recapitulation of the above. 

In 25 Edward HI. a petition was presented to the King and 
his council in Parliament, by the inhabitants of the fens in 
Kesteven and Holland, showing that the ancient boundary between 
the two divisions of the county, the Mid- fen dyke, and the other 
metes which went through the said fens from the Welland to the 
Witham, were at that time, by reason of floods and other impedi- 
ments, so obscured as to be no longer visible, and hence frequent 
quarrels occurred between the inhabitants : in consequence a 



95 

commission was appointed, the boundaries properly set out, and 
defined by stone crosses. 

About this time also a presentment was exhibited against the 
town of Bourn, with the hamlet of Dyke and Calthorp, and the 
town of Morton and Hermethorpe, for turning the fresh water 
towards the north, through the fens to Boston, instead of allowing 
it to run eastwards towards the sea. 

In the 41st year of Edward the Third's reign, a dispute occurred 
between the Abbots of Peterborough and Swineshead as to the 
ownership of some marsh land in Gosberton, supposed to be part 
of Bicker Haven, a full account of which will be found in the 
chapter on the history of the Court of Sewers. 

In Henry the Eighth's time the first systematic attempt at 
drainage was made, a Commission of Sewers was appointed and 
sat at Donington, and having made survey of the fen, decreed 
that two great sewers, 20 feet wide and 5 feet deep, running 
parallel at a distance of 36 feet from each other, should be cut 
from Gutheram's Cote to a point called Wragmere Stake, where 
they were to unite and continue in one channel 30 feet wide to 
Gill syke, and then to the river Witham at Langrick, where was 
a sluice. " And the said waters from the rivers of Glen to 
"Witham, so intended from the south to the north, should fall 
into, enter, and go through all the lodes and drains in the fens 
aforesaid which came out of the parts of Kesteven to Hammond 
Beck, to the end that all the waters going together might the 
better run within its own brinks and channels, and the sooner 
come to the sluice at Skirbeck Gote, and the new gotes at 
Langrick." At Langrick a new sluice was to be built of free- 
stone, with four doors, each eight feet wide. The sewers were to 
be paid for by the several parishes through which the drains 
passed, and the sluice by the fen towns in Kesteven, Heckingtonp 
Kyme, and Ewerby. 



96 

This order of the Court of Sewers was disobeyed by the 

parishes, who, instead of performing the works severally required 

of them, disputed the power of the Commission to make order 

for the execution of new works of drainage, contending that their 

functions only extended to the maintenance of the old and existing 

works. And so matters remained in abeyance till Queen 

Elizabeth's time, in the 8th year of whose reign a Court of 

Sewers was held at Sempringham, and a general tax was again 

laid for carrying out the works ordered by the former court ; but 

nothing was done until nine years afterwards. At another court 

held at Swineshead, the country complained that they were 

drowned more than formerly ; and upon this an order was again 

made that those drains which the Duke of Suffolk and others 

had ordained to be begun about the latter end of King Henry the 

Eighth's time, as also some others, should forthwith be set upon, 

and a tax was laid to pay for the same. The towns again refused 

to pay, and nothing was done for twenty-seven years, when the 

case was brought before the Court of Queen's Bench. Dugdale 

gives the following account of the trial : — 

*' In 43 and 44 Elizabeth a great controversy did arise in the county of 
Lincoln about the erecting of two new gotes at Skirbeck and Langare, for 
draining the waters of South Holland and the fens into Boston Haven, which 
work Sir Edward Dimock, Knight, did by himself and his friends further 
what he could, but it was opposed by the county of Kesteven ; and the 
exception taken thereto was that the Commissioners of Sewers could not, by 
the power of their commission, make a law for the erecting of these new 
gotes where never any stood before ; whereupon the decision of this point 
coming at length before the then two Justices, viz., Popham and Anderson^ 
they delivered their opinions that the said new gotes, if they were found to 
be good and profitable for the safety and advantage of the country, they 
might be erected by the power of this statute." 

Notwithstanding this judgment the inhabitants could not be 

made to pay, and the works were never carried out. In Charles 

the First's reign three of the Commissioners of Sewers, one of 

whom was Sergeant Callis, the author of the standard work on 



97 

the Law of Sewers, made a representation to the King that all 
this fen was surrounded with water, and had no cattle on it, and 
praying him to take some steps for its reclamation ; whereupon 
special courts were held at Sleaford and Boston in the year 1633, 
and an order was made for the draining of the fens, a tax of 
13s. 4d. per acre being laid upon the land to pay for the same. 
The landowners still refusing to pay, three years afterwards, upon 
the direction of the King, the Commissioners, at courts held at 
Sleaford, Swineshead, Boston, and Bourn, made a contract with 
the Earl of Lindsey, Lord High Chamberlain of England, to 
drain the fens lying between Kyme Eau and the Glen, computed 
to contain 36,000 acres ; for doing which he was to receive 
24,000 acres of the reclaimed land, taken proportionately out of 
the several fens. Whereupon the Earl of Lindsey set vigorously to 
work, and completed the drainage so effectually that three years 
afterwards, at a Court of Sewers held at Sleaford, after survey 
made of the sluices, banks, and sewers, decree was made that 
the Earl had made full performance of his contract, and the grant 
of land he was to receive as payment was ratified to him. The 
cost of this work was £45,000. On its completion the Earl and 
his fellow adventurers inclosed the fens, built houses and farm- 
steads, and brought the land into cultivation, and continued in 
peaceable possession for about three years. 

About the same time (1638) King Charles himself undertook 
the drainage of the Eight Hundred, or Haut Huntre Fen, being 
that portion of the level lying east of Earl Lindsey's Fen, or 
between Langrick and Boston, computed to contain twenty-two 
thousand acres ; and a tax of twenty shillings the acre was levied 
upon the inhabitants of Brothertoft, Swineshead, Wigtoft, 
Sutterton, Algarkirk, Fosdyke, Kirton, Frampton, Wyberton, 
Hale, Dogdyke, and Boston claiming common therein. On this 
tax not being paid, the Commissioners of Sewers, at a court held 



98 

at Boston, declared the King to be the sole undertaker for the 
draining thereof, and as recompense of the cost of the same, 
granted to him eight thousand acres of the reclaimed land. 
The King parted with his interest to Sir William KiUigrew, who 
was also a fellow adventurer with the Earl of Lindsey in his 
drainage of the rest of the level ; and under his direction this 
fen was drained and reclaimed. A gote was built in Skirbeck 
Quarter on the site of the old Black Sluice, and a new cut made 
as far as Swineshead. The Lindsey level was drained by a cut 
made from Gutheram's Cote to Swineshead, pursuing the course 
of the present South Forty Foot ; by straightening and scouring 
out the old Hammond Beck ; and by cutting lateral drains through 
the adjacent fens to the high land. 

The Earl and his partner, Sir W. Killigrew, were successful 
with the drainage, and the country began to assume a habitable 
appearance, but several disputes as to the rights of the adventurers 
to their share of the reclaimed land having arisen, petitions were 
presented to Parliament by the fen men. After an enquiry, orders 
were granted by both Houses confirming the Earl in the possession 
of his property. The malcontents, thus failing to obtain their 
way, in contempt of all law and order, destroyed the drains and 
buildings, and also the crops — then ready to be reaped — to a very 
crreat value ; and up to Dugdale's time (16G2) had "held possession, 
to the great decay and ruin of those costly works and exceeding 
discommodity to all that part of the country." They also 
attempted to pull down the new sluice at Boston, which had cost 
£6000. Sir Wm. Killigrew appealed to the Mayor of Boston, 
and prayed that an order might be given *' to enquire out those 
that are now pulling that great sluice to pieces, which if it should, 
by this breaking up, be suncke by the water getting under it, the 
sea will break in all that side of the country, where no sea ever 
came. By the ruin of this our main sluice I conseave a hundred 
thousand pound damage may be done to the country, which those 



99 

rogues doo not consider that doe steale and breake up the iron 
and the plankes of that great Sluse." 

It does not appear that the adventurers could procure any 
relief; the unsettled state of public affairs, party spirit, and other 
causes growing out of the circumstances of the period, seem to 
have impeded the course of justice, and Sir William died forty 
years after his petition to Parliament a poor man, ruined by his 
adventure. For nearly a hundred years the fen remained unre- 
claimed. Some idea may be gained of its condition from the 
following description given by Mr. Thompson : — ** The whole of 
the land between Brothertoft and Boston was frequently over- 
flowed during the winter season. The turnpike road from Boston 
to Swineshead, and the intersecting roads leading to the adjacent 
villages were covered with a considerable depth of water ; of course 
they were dangerous to travel upon, and the country people 
brought their produce to Boston market in boats, being enabled 
very frequently to come in them as far as Rosegarth corner in 
West- street, the water often reaching to the White Horse inn in 
that street," 

In the year 1765, being the fifth year of the reign of George 
III., the owners of the lands in the Holland Fen and the Lyndsey 
level bestirred themselves, and determined to make another 
attempt to reclaim these fens. They accordingly applied to 
ParHament and obtained an Act under the title of "an Act 
(v. Geo. III., cap. 85) for draining and improving certain low 
marsh and fen lands lying between Boston Haven and Bourn, in 
the parts of Kesteven and Holland, in the county of Lincoln." 
By this Act the management of the district was taken out of the 
jurisdiction of the Court of Sewers, and was given to a commission 
consisting of all persons who possessed property in the fen to the 
value of £100 per annum, or were heirs apparent to property of 
the value of £100 per annum, and who should qualify them- 



100 

iselves by taking the oath prescribed by the Act. Power was 
granted to do works, and levy taxes not exceeding 9d. per acre 
on the lowest lands, 4|d. on the higher level, and 3d. on Holland 
Fen. In order to prevent the work being rendered abortive, as 
all previous attempts had been, by the lawlessness of the fen 
men, it was made a felony to injure or destroy any of the bank^, 
sluices, or drains, and persons found guilty of such acts wei-e 
liable to seven years' transportation. This clause was repealed 
in the 12th year of the present reign, when the good effects of 
the drainage being felt by all, the common sense of the inhabitants 
became sufficient protection to the works without the infliction of 
so heavy a penalty, and in lieu thereof persons injuring any of 
the works became liable to a penalty of £5. 

The following were the works authorised and carried out under 
the powers of this and subsequent Acts, and the regulations 
imposed on the Commissioners as to the neighbouring banks and 
water courses : — The heightening and strengthening the north 
bank of the river Glen and Bourn Eau from Dove Hurn or 
Pinchbeck Bars to Bourn ; erecting a new sluice at the lower end 
of the South Forty Foot Drain, on the spot where the old Black 
Sluice formerly stood, the water way to be fifty-six feet, or as 
nearly the dimensions of the old sluice as possible, the sluice to 
have four pairs of doors ; the South Forty Foot Drain to be 
lowered from the sluice to Clay Dyke, and to have sixty feet top 
and forty-six feet bottom as far as Hale Fen, then thirty feet 
bottom ; a new main drain to be made from the South Forty 
Foot to Gutheram's Cote, with thirty feet bottom, decreasing to 
ten feet at the upper end ; to scour out and widen New Hammond 
Beck from Redstone Gowt to its junction with the Forty Foot, 
the Old Hammond Beck throughout its length, and other minor 
drains. 

The Deeping Fen proprietors were to be exonerated from 
keeping in repair the North Bank of the Glen, from Dove Hurn 



101 

to Gutheram's Cote, and the Black Sluice Commissioners to 
maintain the same ; the Deeping Fen proprietors paying £18 per 
annum. They were also to keep in repair the bank from this 
point to the high lands in Bourn, this parish and Cawthorpe and 
the other proprietors of the bank paying at the rate of twenty 
shillings a furlong for the maintenance of the same. 

The state of Bourn Eau and the river Glen have been a constant 
cause of anxiety to the managers of the Black Sluice district. The 
bed of the latter river gradually rose so high, by accumulated 
deposits, as to make the drainage by it very imperfect and render 
the banks liable to breaches from heavy floods. These banks 
have given way no less than seven times since the beginning of the 
present century, five of the breaches being on the south, and two 
on the north side ; and in consequence several thousand acres 
of land were inundated, to the very serious loss of the occupiers. 
It has been stated that the cost, during this period, of maintaining 
the banks and repairing the breaches amounted to ten thousand 
pounds. 

The banks of Bourn Eau were even in a worse condition than 
those of the Glen, being low and made of light and porous earth. 
For their preservation doors were placed at Tongue-end, pointing 
to the Glen, to prevent the water in floods reverting up the Bourn 
Eau ; and an overfall, of about twenty feet in length, was fixed 
in the north bank to let part of the water into the fen when it 
should rise so high as to threaten a breach of the banks. This 
arrangement still continues, and the overflow is connected with 
the South Forty-foot river near Gutheram's Cote. 

The amount authorised to be raised not proving sufficient, an 
amended Act (10 Geo. III., cap. 41) was obtained authorising 
the Commissioners to double the former taxes, which consequently 
became on the respective districts eightoen-pence, nine-pence, 
and sixpence per acre. They also obtained powers to carry out 



102 

additional works, and to contribute three thousand pounds towards 
cleansing, deepening, and widening the Glen from the Sluice at 
the Reservoir to Tongue-end, on the Commissioners of Deeping 
Fen spending a similar amount. 

The last attempt to drain the level was thoroughly successful. 
The works were efficiently carried out, and being well-designed 
entirely answered the expectation of the promoters ; the Fen, 
which, before the drainage, was little better than a morass, growing 
a coarse herbage and affording a scanty pasturage during the 
summer months, became rich arable and grass lands, and the 
annual value increased tenfold. This result was not obtained 
without several serious riots caused by the Fen men, the suc- 
cessors of those who had so effectually destroyed the works carried 
out by Earl Lindsey and all former adventurers. The inclosure 
was regarded by these men as an infringement of rights and 
privileges which they had long enjoyed. Very lawless excesses 
were committed in opposition to and destructive of the public 
works, and fences which were erected in the day-time, were 
frequently pulled down during the night. Several rather serious 
riots took place, and some lives were lost ; and it was long before 
there was anything like a general acquiescence in the proceedings, 
and an admission that the enclosure promoted the general good, 
mthout any possible infringement of individual rights. 

The common effect on all fen lands by improved drainage is a 
general subsidence of the soil. The rapid abstraction of the 
water from the land into the drains causes the spongy soil 
gradually to consolidate, and this process is still further assisted 
by the ploughing and working of the land. The organic matter 
also which has accumulated on the surface, during many centuries, 
by being exposed to the atmosphere, decomposes, and the genera! 
result is a lowering of the level of the surface of the ground, in 
some places to an extent of two or even three feet. The great 



103 

attention which has been paid of late years to the science of 
drainage, rendered necessary an improvement in the works which 
had formerly been deemed sufficient for the protection of the fen, 
and the general subsidence of the land, owing to the causes above 
referred to, made it necessary that the main drains should be dug 
to a lower level. The Commissioners, therefore, consulted Mr. 
Kennie, who being thoroughly convinced of the imperfection of 
any system of interior drainage without a proper outfall, never 
lost any opportunity of urging this self-evident fact on the 
various bodies of Commissioners with which he had to deal ; and 
who in this instance acting on his advice, applied to the Corpora- 
tion of Boston and the Witham Commissioners to join with them 
in a general scheme for the improvement of the Haven, but these 
Trusts having declined to do so, Mr. Rennie was directed to 
confine his attention to the internal drainage of the Black Sluice 
Level. 

Mr. Rennie's report, dated September 19th, 1815, after 
referring to the inadequacy of the then means of drainage, by 
which cause a great deal of the land was frequently flooded and 
seriously injured, traced the cause to the great quantity of water 
which came into the fen from the high lands ; and he considered 
that no effectual drainage could be obtained unless the waters 
which came from a higher level could be prevented from mixing 
with the fen waters and overriding them. For this purpose he 
recommended that the old Car dyke should be scoured out and 
converted into a catch- water drain, so as to intercept all the flood 
water which comes down from the high lands lying between 
Bourn and Ewerby, and that this water should be carried by 
Heckington Cut and Gill Syke into the North Forty-foot, and so 
by this drain to a new sluice above Boston Bridge, where it would 
be discharged into the Witham. He also recommended the 
deepening and cleansing of several other drains, and the 



104 

strengthening of the north bank of Bourn Eau, the total cost of 
the works being estimated at £66,160, viz. : — 

£ s. d. 
The catchwater drain from Bourn to the Witham, 

near to the Grand Sluice 35,832 

A new Sluice for the same, of 30 feet water way, 

and a tunnel under the North Forty-foot 12,220 

Scouring out the South Forty-foot, Hammond 

Beck, and Sundries 12,406 

Barrier Bank at Bourn Eau 5,702 

£66,160 

These recommendations of Mr. Rennie were not carried into 
effect, and the condition of the drainage became so bad, that the 
lower lands were continually flooded and the crops destroyed or 
greatly injured. The loss throughout the level was stated, in 
some seasons, to be £40,000, and the annual loss £20,000. 

The proprietors of Bourn Fen, faiHng to obtain drainage by 
natural means, after considerable litigation with the Black Sluice 
Commissioners, obtainiBd an Act enabling them to employ steam 
power, and an engine was erected near Gutheram Cote. Other 
parishes followed this example, and thus obtained an individual 
benefit at a very much greater aggregate cost than the expense of 
one general measure. 

The work of improvement was hindered for some time by a 
division of opinion which existed as to the best method of 
effecting a natural drainage of the level, one party (headed by 
Mr. Kingsman Foster, a Commissioner,) contended that the 
proper outlet of the waters of the south part of the Fen was the 
river Welland. His plan was to deepen and widen the river 
Glen, and to divert the waters of the level into these two streams. 
This gentleman further complained of what he considered a great 
injustice which was inflicted on the taxpayers of the Black Sluice 
Levels owing to^ the fact of 30,000 acres of land lying on the 



105 

east of the Hammond Beck, and under the jurisdiction of the 
Court of Sewers, discharging their waters into the drains of the 
Black Sluice level without being taxed towards the expenses of 
that Trust. He attributed the cause of this to the silting up of 
the outlets belonging to the Court of Sewers, which ought to 
have conveyed these waters to the Welland. The plan of drainage 
proposed by Mr. Foster and his remarks respecting the " Surrep- 
titious Drainage" do not appear to have held weight with his 
brother Commissioners, and are only mentioned here as an 
incident in the History of the Drainage of the Level. 

At last, in the year 1844, the Commissioners directed their 
engineer, Mr. Lewin, to make a report as to the best means of 
improving the drainage. In the following year they called in Sir 
John Rennie, and having adopted his report, determined to go to 
Parliament for fresh powers to raise money and carry out works. 
Both Sir John Rennie and Mr. Lewin strongly advocated the plan 
proposed to the Commissioners by Mr. Rennie in 1815, for the 
conversion of the Car-dyke into a catchwater or receiving drain 
for the water flowing on the level from the high lands between 
Bourn and Ewerby ; but against this there appears to have been 
so strong a prejudice that Sir John was obHged to abandon it, and 
he therefore prepared an amended scheme, with which the Com- 
missioners went to Parliament, but considerable opposition 
being raised by the upper districts, and owing to other causes, 
the bill was not carried. In the following Session the Commis- 
sioners again put in an appearance with Sir William Cubitt, as 
their engineer, and succeeded in obtaining an Act, entitled ; (9th 
Vict., cap. 297) " An Act for better draining and improving 
certain low marsh and fen lands lying between Boston and Bourn, 
in the county of Lincoln, and for further improving the navigation 
through such lands." This Act recites that the general means ot 
di'aining the lands had become very defective, in consequence 



106 

whereof considerable losses in agricultural produce were frequently 
sustained, the recurrence of which might be prevented by im- 
provements made in the drainage, and also that no provision 
having been made in the former Acts for the discharge of the 
debt incurred in carrying them into execution, this debt had for 
many years operated as an obstacle to the application of 
sufficient means for maintaining the existing works of drainage 
in an efficient state, and that it was therefore desirable to make 
arrangements for the gradual extinction of the existing and any 
future debts. 

The works sanctioned by the Act were as follows : — 

1. The lowering of the South Forty-foot river from end to end to a depth 
of from four to five feet on an average, so as to bring the bottom of the river 
at Gutheram Cote on a level with the existing cill of the Black Sluice, and 
to give a gradual inclination, or fall, at the rate of three inches per mile 
throughout its length. 

2. The erection of a new sluice at a point a little south of the old Black 
Sluice, with three openings of the width of 20 feet clear (one being constructed 
for use as a navigation lock). The cills to be six feet below the cill of the 
existing sluice. 

3. The scouring out and enlarging and deepening the Twenty-foot drain, 
and also the old skirth. 

4. The Hammond beck from its junction with the Forty-foot to Dove Hum 
to be deepened three feet on an average, so that its bottom at the junction 
should be six inches below the cill of the Black sluice ; and to have an 
inclination at the rate of three inches per mile as far as the Twenty-foot 
drain in Gosberton Fen, and above that point at the rate of fourteen inches 
per mile. 

5. Clay-dike, New-cut, Heckington Head-drain, Mid-fodder-drain, Hodge- 
dyke, and the several other drains, which belenged to the Commissioners, 
were to be scoured out and deepened, so as to correspond with the improved 
condition of the Forty-foot river. 

In consideration that the maintenance of the north bank of the 

river Glen is essential for securing the level from partial inundation 

from the waters of that river, and that it would tend to the safety 

of this bank if the waters had a freer passage to the sea by 

means of its channel being scoured out and deepened and the 



107 

cill [of the Outlet Sluice lowered, the Commissioners were 
authorised to subscribe a sum, not exceeding two thousand pounds, 
towards the carrying out of such work ; but if the persons having 
the management of the Glen did not undertake the improvement 
of the river, the Commissioners were at once to strengthen the 
North Bank of the river Glen and Bourn Eau. 

Power was also given to the Trust to subscribe towards any 
works that might be carried out by the Boston Harbour Trustees, 
or others, for the improvement of the Haven ; and also towards 
any works for scouring out or deepening Risegate Eau, or any 
other rivers or drains, provided such works would tend to accele- 
rate the passage of the waters from the Black Sluice Level. New 
regulations were laid down for the management of the navigation 
and collection of toll, and several other matters relating to the 
internal administration of the Trust were provided for. Addi- 
tional taxing powers were granted to meet the expenses of carrying 
the Act into execution. The extra rate for building the sluice 
was 2s. 6d. per acre on all lands in the level for a period not 
exceeding four years, and not raising a greater sum than £30,000. 
Bourn and Dike were liable to pay only Is. 3d. per acre, in 
addition to the Is. 6d. to which they were already liable. In 
addition to the 2s. 6d., extra taxes for five years, for paying for 
the improvement of the Forty-foot and other drains, were im- 
posed on the level, in the following proportions : The several 
rates of Is. 6d., 9d., and 6d. respectively, were doubled for a 
period of five years ; at the expiration of this period the first- 
named district was to pay 2s., the second Is., and the third 8d. 
per acre extra. Power was granted to raise money on mortgage 
not exceeding, in the whole, a sum of £80,000 ; but after the 
expiration of five years, arrangement was made for the extinction 
of the whole of the debt due by the Trust by the annual repay- 
ment of a sum of £1,200. 



108 

The time granted by this Act for the execution of the works 
and the fnnds provided not being sufficient, an amended Act (12 
and 13 Vict., cap 59) was obtained in 1849, by which the 
district liable to the rate of eighteen- pence was charged with a 
capital tax of 2s. 3d. ; the nine-penny district with Is. l^d., 
and the sixpenny with 9d. extra, until October, 1850 ; after that 
the extra tax on the first was to be reduced to 4^d., the second to 
2^d., and the third l^d. Power was also taken to borrow an 
additional sum of £10,000. Under the power of these two 
Acts the works enumerated have been carried out, and the arterial 
drainage of the level rendered as perfect as engineering science 
can make it. 

The numerous steam engines constantly at work pumping the 
water from the adjacent fens into the main drains, and the great 
height of water constantly standing on the cill of the Black 
Sluice, scarcely ever less than ten feet, shows there is yet room 
for considerable improvement ; and as the Commissioners have 
done all that lies in their power to make their own arrangements 
perfect, and their drains and sluices are maintained in excellent 
order and repair, it is obvious than any remedy which is to be 
obtained must be sought for below the point of discharge of their 
waters. As they have powers to subscribe towards works for the 
improvement of Boston Haven, it is greatly to be hoped that some 
general arrangement may be come to, by all the interested trusts, 
by which a scheme for improving the outfall may be effectually 
carried out. 

Complaints are occasionally made with respect to the working 
and condition of the interior drains. This no doubt arises from 
the representative system of management which has been adopted, 
and the consequent loss of advantage to be derived from having 
the whole system of outlet and interior drainage placed under 
one management. Each parish yearly nominates its own 



109 

officer who receives his appointment from the Commissioners. 
The duty of this officer is to attend to the internal drains, or 
sewers, belonging to his Parish, and to collect the taxes. It has 
been found by constant experience, and is a principle which is 
rapidly gaining ground — as for instance in the Highway districts 
formed throughout the country — that all work requiring technical 
knowledge is better performed by a permanent officer, who is 
properly qualified by practice and experience, and who makes that 
particular work his study, than by persons who are only elected 
for a short period, who have no special qualifications for the duties 
of the office, and who may be succeeded by others who, perhaps 
adopting some . different theory to their predecessors, may undo 
that which has been done, or cause injury by a neglect of duties, 
which having only undertaken for a limited period, they prefer 
leaving to their successor, rather than incur any odium by 
offending their neighbours, or by levying any extra expense 
necessary to maintain the work in efficiency. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE KlVEIl WELLAND AND DEEPING FEN. 

The river Welland borders upon the county of Northampton 
on the one side, and the counties of Leicester, Rutland, and 
Lincoln on the other. It springs at Sibbertoft fields, in the 
county of Northampton, not far from the head of the Nene 
and the Avon, and flows thence by Harborough and CoUyweston 
to Stamford, where it is increased by the river Gwash, and 
united they flow by Deeping and Crowland to Spalding, and 
thence to Boston Deeps, near the mouth of the Witham. The 
Gwash is about 20 miles in length. These rivers, springing in a 
comparatively high country, flow for a considerable distance 
through a low fenny district, the whole of which used to be 
overflowed by their waters. Hence an old saying, ** Wasch 
and Wiland shall drown all Holland." The same authority 
tells us that the Welland is celebrated for its fish, for that 
" once in seven or eight years immense shoals of sticklebacks 
appear in the Welland below Spalding, and attempt coming 
up the river in a vast column. They are supposed to be the 
collected multitudes washed out of the fens by the floods of 
several years, and carried into some deep hole. When over- 
charged with numbers they are obliged to attempt a change 
of place ; they move up the river in such quantities as to 
enable a man, who was employed in taking them, to earn for 
a considerable time, 4s. per day, by selling them at a half- 
penny per bushel. They were used to manure land, and 
attempts have been made to get oil from them." 



Ill 

At Crowland is a triangular bridge which is described by 
Goiigh " As the greatest curiosity in Britain, if not in Europe." 
It consists of three piers or abutments, whence spring three 
arches, the groins of which are united in the centre. Three 
roads meet at the Crown ; the ascent is very steep from each 
point, and the road is paved with stones. It is supposed to 
have been built about the year 941, but some authorities fix 
the date in Edward the First's reign. The river Welland, a 
branch of the Nene, and a stream called the Catwater used 
to flow under it,— the only water that now passes that way 
is covered in, and the roadway is under instead of over the 
bridge. 

The Welland bears conspicuous mention in the annals of 
the ecclesiastical history of this country. Crowland Abbey, one 
of the earliest religious estabhshments founded in this country, 
being situated on its banks, monks became possessed of a 
great portion of the adjacent fens and marshes, which they 
endeavoured to re-claim by embanking and draining. The 
appearance of the country at the beginning of the 8th century 
is thus described :— " There is in the middle part of Britain 
a hideous fen of a huge bigness, which, beginning at the banks 
of the river Grante, extends itself from the south to the north 
in a very long tract, even to the sea : ofttimes clouded with 
moist and dark vapours, having within it divers islands and 
woods, as also crooked and winding rivers. When, therefore 
that man of blessed memory, Guthlac, had found out the 
desert places of this vast wilderness, and by God's assistance 
had passed through them, he enquired of the borderers what 
they knew thereof, who, relating several things of its dreadful- 
ness and solitude, there stood up one among them, called 
Tatwine, who affirmed that he knew a certain island, in the more 
remote and secret parts thereof, which many had attempted to 



112 

inhabit, but could not for the strange and uncouth monsters and 
several terrors wherewith they were affrighted : whereupon St. 
Guthlac earnestly entreated that he would show him that place. 
Tatwine, therefore, yielding to the request of this holy man, taking 
a fisher's boat (Christ being his guide through the intricacies of 
this darksome fen) passed thereunto, it being called Crowland, 
and situate in the midst of the lake, but in respect of its desert- 
ness formerly known to very few, for no countryman, before that 
devout servant of Christ, S. Guthlac, could endure to dwell in it 
by reason that such apparitions of devils were so frequently seen 
there." 

"Not long after, St. Guthlac being awoke in the night time, 
betwixt his hours of prayer, as he was accustomed, of a sudden 
he discerned his cell to be full of black troops of unclean spirits, 
which crept in under the door, as also at chinks and holes, and 
coming in both out of the sky and from the earth, filled the air 
as it were with dark clouds. In their looks they were cruel, and 
of form terrible, having great heads, long necks, lean faces, pale 
countenances, ill-favoured beards, rough ears, wrinkled foreheads, 
fierce eyes, stinking mouths, teeth like horses, spitting fire out of 
their throats, crooked jaws, broad lips, loud voices, burnt hair, 
great cheeks, high breasts, rugged thighs, bunched knees, bended 
legs, swollen ancles, preposterous feet, open mouths and hoarse 
cries ; who with such mighty shrieks were heard to roar that they 
filled almost the whole distance from heaven with their bellowing 
noises ; and by and by rushing into the house, first bound the 
holy man ; then drew him out of his cell, and cast him over head 
and ears into the dirty fen ; and having so done carried him 
through the most rough and troublesome parts thereof, drawing 
him amongst brambles and briers for the tearing of his limbs." 
— (hicjulpk.) 

The reputation for piety acquired by St. Guthlac soon made 
Crowland famous, and after his death Ethelbald, King of Mercia, 



113 

whose confessor he had been, determined to erect a monaster}^ to 
his memory, and endowed it with the whole isle of Crowland, 
together with the adjacent fens lying on both sides of the river 
Welland. The ground on which the Monastery was built, being 
so moist and fenny as not of itself to bear a building of stone, a 
great number of piles were driven deep into the ground, and a 
quantity of firm hard earth, brought from a distance of nine miles, 
was thrown amongst them, and upon this foundation the building 
was erected.* A similar difficulty was overcome by the monks of 
Peterborough, who built a monastery in 655, and obtained a foun- 
dation by plunging into the marsh " stones so immense that eight 
yoke of oxen could scarcely draw one." ( Turne/s History of the 
Anglo Saxons). The bounty of the King was thus celebrated in 
poetry by an ancient monk : — 

" The Koyal bounty here itself displays, 
And bids with mighty pains a temple raise. 
The soft, the slippery, the unsettled soil 
Had long disdained the busy workman's toil. 
No stone foundations suit this marshy land, 
But piles of oak in goodly order stand ; 
And boats, for nine long leagues, fetch filling land : 
The fickle soil cements to solid ground. 
The sacred pile on the firm base they found, 
And art and labour grace the work around. 

It will be unnecessary further to pursue the History of the 

Abbey of Crowland, sufiice it to say, though the Monks " had 

ample possessions in the fens yet they yielded not much profit, 

in regard that so great a quantity of them lay for the most part 

underwater." The fens, however, served other purposes than that 

of profit, for in the many incursions of the Danes, they became 

the chiefest refuge of the Monks, their lives being secured by 



* lugulph's Chronicles of the Abbey of Crow land, Bohns Edition. 
+ A very intercpting historical sketch of Crowlaud Abbey, written by the Kcv. G, 
Perry, is published by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. 



114 

means of these spacious fens, in the reeds and thickets whereof 
they hid themselves to avoid the cruelties of this barbarous people, 
whilst the rest of their convent was murdered and their abbey 
burnt. The Monks had other enemies besides the Danes, con- 
tinual efforts being made by the adjoining proprietors to wrest 
from them the lands given by the King, and again and again in 
successive reigns the Abbot had to appear before the King to 
get the charters confirmed. Thus Dugdale tells us " noth with- 
standing that the lands and possessions of this abbey were, 
through the great bounty of several Kings and others, given 
thereto with divers ample privileges and immunities, and not only 
so, but with fearful curses pronounced by those pious persons 
against such as should violate any of their grants ; nevertheless 
it appears that the inhabitants of Holand (bordering on the 
north side of Crowland), having drained their own marshes and 
converted them to good and fertile arable land, whereof each 
town had its proper proportion, wanting pasturage for their cattle, 
took advantage of a false rumour of the King's (Henry II.) death, 
and, bearing themselves not a little on their strength and wealth, 
thought that they might oppress the poor monks at Crowland 
without control." Accordingly they came down in a large body, 
pastured their cattle on the marshes of the abbot, cut and carried 
away his hay, and committed other depredations. He appealed 
to the King's justices, and for five years the contention was 
carried on, but at length the abbot prevailed and recovered 
possession of the marshes. In the reign of Henry III. the 
Abbot of Crowland being called upon by the King to make a road 
from his abbey towards Spalding, as far as a place called 
Brotherhouse, he pleaded that it would be a very difficult and 
expensive work, " because it was a fenny soil, and by reason of 
the lowness of the ground, in a moorish earth, it would be a 
difficult matter to make a causey fit and durable for passengers ; 



115 

because it could not be made otherwise than upon the brink of 
the river Welland, where there was so much water in winter time 
that it covered the ground an ell and a half in depth, and in a 
tempestuous wind two ells, at which time the ground on the side 
of that river was often broken by bargemen and mariners, and by 
the force of the wind so torn away ; so that in case a causey 
should be made there, it would in a short time be consumed and 
wasted away by the power of those winds, except it were raised 
very high and broad, and defended by some means against such 
dangers." The plea of the Abbot was admitted, but the men of 
Kesteven ' and Holland again urging on the King the necessity 
there was for a road, the Abbot at last undertook the construction, 
on condition that he might levy for seven years tolls sufficient to 
reimburse the cost and afterwards to maintain the road in good 
order. 

In the same reign the town of Spalding was presented by the 
jurors before the justices, because they had neglected to scour 
out and repair the river Welland, where it passed through their 
jurisdiction, by reason of which neglect great damage had accrued 
to the King's liege people. The inhabitants of Spalding, being 
summoned by the Shiereeve to answer the charge, pleaded that 
the river then was and long had been an arm of the sea, wherein 
the tides did ebb and flow twice in 24 hours, and therefore that 
there was no obligation on them to repair it. 

The river Welland was much injured by the loss of the back 
scour of the tidal waters, which at one time used to flow up and 
fill Bicker Haven. There is little known concerning the history 
of this arm of the sea, but that it occupied a considerable area 
may be gathered from the traces of its banks, which may be seen 
at the present time as far up as Bicker and near the turnpike- 
road, by which they are crossed between Sutterton and Gosberton. 
In the time of William the Conqueror it was still a receptacle for 



116 

the tides, for the Abbot of Peterboro' is said to have had 16 salt 
pans at Donington, but the silting up must have taken place 
between this and Edward the Third's time, for in this reign the 
great dispute occurred between the Abbots of Swineshead and 
Peterborough as to whom the accreted land should belong, the 
area of Marsh more particularly involved in the law suit being 
340 acres ; the decision being given in favour of the ancient 
custom, ** That all and singular Lords possessing any manors or 
lands upon the sea coast had usually silt and sand cast up to 
their lands by the tides." The Haven was also an outlet for a 
great quantity of fen and upland waters. By the old Skerth- 
drain it was connected with Kyme Eau, and by the Gillsyke with 
the lands bordering on the Upper Witham, and thus a great 
quantity of the land in the direction of Sleaford and Langrick 
would have the outlet for its waters b}'' Bicker Haven. 

About this time also a commission was appointed to inspect 
the river Glen, which adjoins Deeping Fen, and they decreed that 
it was not sufficiently wide " to admit of the proper discharge of 
the waters which it brought down from the higher part of the 
country, so that the fens on either side were drowned, and that 
it ought to be widened from Gutheram's Cote to the sea, so that 
at Surfleet it should be 20 feet wide ;" and that the work ought 
to be done by the persons who owned the land abutting on the 
river. The same commission also presented that the great bridge, 
called Spalding Brigge, was then broken, and ought to be repaired 
at the charges of the whole town ; and also that the Marsh banks, 
being then broken in divers places, should be repaired. The 
commission further ordained that all persons, as well rich as poor, 
should be liable to all mene works, as well for the repairs of the 
sewers as the banks ; and that every man, having a messuage and 
10 acres of land, should find one tumbril or cart, and those who 
had less, one able man of not less than 18 years of age ; or 



117 

instead of the cart and horse a money payment of foarpence, and 
instead of the man, of twopence per day. Numerous present- 
ments of a similar kind were made from time to time against the 
Abbot of Crowland and others for not repairing the banks or 
properly scouring out the drains, and orders made thereupon. 
These banks and drains had originally been made by the Abbots 
of Crowland in their endeavours to reclaim the fens. Thus 
Abbot Egelvic so improved a portion of the marshes as to be 
able to plough and sow them with corn. Ingulphus's account is 
that '* in dry years he tilled the fens in four places, and for three 
or four years had the increase of an hundred fold of what seed 
soever he sowed." The monastery being so enriched by these 
plentiful crops that the whole country thereabout was supplied 
therewith, and a multitude of poor people resorting thither for 
that respect made Crowland a large town. This state of prosperity 
did not continue, for in William the Conqueror's time they had 
no such inhabitants residing at Crowland, the only occupants of 
the adjacent fens being those of the tenants and their families, 
to whom the Abbot had let a great portion of the marshes and 
meadows, " no man delighting to inhabit here any longer than he 
was necessitated so to do ; insomuch as those who in time of 
war betook themselves hither for security (as great numbers of 
rich and poor from the neighbouring countries did) afterwards 
returned back to their particular houses, for without boats there 
was not then any access thereto, there being no path except up 
to the gate of the monastery." Abbot Egelvic was an enterprising 
man ; in addition to his banks and drains, and the ploughing up 
of the marshes, he also constructed a road from Deeping to 
Spalding, the foundation of which was made of wood covered 
with gravel, ** a most costly work, but of extraordinary necessity." 
In William the Conqueror's reign, one Richard De Eulos, 
Chamberlain to the King, being much given to good husbandry, 



118 

such as tillage and the breeding of cattle, took in a great part of 
the common of Deeping Fen, and converted it into meadows and 
pasture. He also prevented the Welland from flooding his lands 
by a great bank, and on it he erected divers tenements and 
cottages, and made there a large town, whereunto he assigned 
gardens and arable fields, which town was called Deeping, ■ the 
name originating from the constant floodings of these lands from 
the Welland, the meaning of the word being a deep meadow. 
By similar means he also made a village dedicated to St. James, 
now called St. James Deeping, and so by banking and draining 
he converted those low grounds, which before were only deep 
lakes and impassable fens, into fruitful fields and pastures, and 
the humid and moorish soil became a garden of pleasure. 

Deeping Fen formed part of the great forest of Holland and 
Kesteven, the fen lands of which had been afforested by WilHam 
Rufus, the bounds being afterwards extended by Henry the First 
as far as Market Deeping, and so it continued until the reign of 
Henry HI., who disafforested all this fen *' so that the lands, 
marshes, and turbaries were thenceforth quit of waste and regard.'* 

The following particulars relating to Deeping Fen in the reign 
of Richard II. are given in Dugdale's history. ** The marsh called 
Deeping Fen did extend itself from East Deeping to the middle 
of the bridge of Crowland, and the middle of the river of 
Welland, and thence to the messuage of Wm. Atte Townsend, of 
Spalding, and thence to a certain place called Dowe Hirne, thence 
to Goderham's Kote, thence to Estcote, and thence to Baston 
barre, thence to Langtoft-outgonge, and thence to East Deeping 
in length and breadth, and that the agistments of all cattle in the 
said marsh did then belong to the lord, and were worth annually 
XXL ; and moreover that there was a certain profit of turfs, 
yearly digged therein, worth XXL ; and Hkewise a profit of 
poundage, to be yearly twice taken of all cattle within the said 



119 

marsh, viz., one time of horses and afterwards of cattle ; where- 
upon all cattle which have right of common there are delivered 
with payment of Greshyre, but of other cattle the lord hath 
Greshyre, which was worth XXZ. per annum. Also that there 
was within the said marsh a certain profit of fishing, newly taken 
by reason of the overflowing of the waters on the north part 
toward Spalding, which was yearly worth VIIL, and that the 
other profits of fishing and fowling throughout the whole fen was 
worth Gs.f and lastly that the fishing to the midst of the river of 
Welland to Crowland and thence to Spalding, was yearly worth 
Ls." 

In this same (Richard 11) reign a dispute occurred with the 
men residing in Kesteven as to the boundaries of the fens, and a 
commission was issued by the King. A perambulation having 
been made, ten crosses were erected to show the division. But 
within two years these were all thrown down and carried away by 
the Kesteven men, for which act sundry of them were hanged, 
some banished, and some fined in great sums, and command 
given for erecting new crosses of stone at the charge of these men 
of Kesteven. In several succeeding reigns Commissions were 
issued by the Crown to view the banks, ditches, and water 
courses, and also the floodgates and sluices, and to sec that all 
necessary repairs were executed for maintaining the same in 
proper order. 

In the beginning of the 16th century this part of the country 

is thus described by Camden in his history of England. 

" Allow me, however, to stop awhile to describe the extraordinary situation 
and nature of this spot, so diflferent from all others in England, and this so 
famous monastery (Crowland) lies among the deepest fens and waters stag- 
nating off muddy lands, so shut in and environed as to be inaccessible on all 
sides except the north and east, and that only by narrow causeys. Its 
situation, if we may compare small things with great, is not unlike that of 
Venice, consisting of three streets, divided by canals of water, planted with 
willows, and built on piles driven into the bottom of the fen, and joined by a 



120 

triangular bridge of admirable workmanship, under which, the inhabitants 
report, is a pit of immense depth, dug to receive the confluence of waters. 
Beyond this bridge, where, as the poet says, ' the soil cements to solid ground,' 
antiently stood the monastery so famous, in a much narrower space all round 
Avhich, except where the town stands, it is so moory that you may run a pole 
into the ground to the depth of 30 feet, and nothing is to be seen on evei^ 
side but beds of rushes, and near the church a grove of alders. It is, not- 
withstanding, full of inhabitants, who keep their cattle at a good distance 
from the town, and go to milk them in little boats, called skerries, which will 
hold but two persons ; but their chief profit arises from the catching of fish 
and wild fowl, which they do in such quantities that in the month of August 
they drive 3000 ducks into one net, and call their pools their fields. No corn 
grows within five miles of them. Higher up that same river lies Spalding, 
surrounded on all sides with rivulets and canals, an handsomer town than one 
would expect in this tract among stagnated waters. From hence to Deeping, 
a town ten miles off, the meaning of which is deep meadow, for the plain 
below it extending many miles is the deepest of all this fenny countiy, and 
the receptacle of many waters ; and, which is very extraordinary, much below 
the bed of the river Glen, which runs by from the west, confined within its 
own banks." 

In Queen Elizabeth's reign an Act was passed for making the 
Welland navigable, from Stamford to the Sea. Drakard in his 
history of Stamford, says : " That this Act was obtained on the 
application of the aldermen, burgesses, and commonalty of 
Stamford, stating that their town, which had formerly been 
inhabited by many opulent merchants, whose wealth had been 
increased by the navigation of the river Welland, and its con- 
nection with Boston, Lynn, and other parts, was then gone to 
great ruin from the prejudice done to the navigation, by the 
erection of mills between Deeping and Stamford, and the con- 
sequent diversions of the stream from its ancient course." And 
at a general session of the Commissioners of Sewers, holden at 
Stamford, on the 93rd of August and the 10th of September, in 
the 17 th year of King James the First, by that Act of ParHament 
it was enacted and decreed that it should be lawful for the Cor- 
poration of Stamford to make a river, of such breadth and depth 
as they should think fit, for the passage of boats and barges, 



121 

from the north side of the river Welland, from the east end of 
the town of Stamford, and Hudd's Mill, across the river called 
Newstead River or the Wash, and thence through Affington, 
Tallington, West Deeping, Market Deeping, and past Market 
Deeping Corn Mill, to rejoin the ancient course of the river, and 
thence in the course before stated unto the outfall to sea, at 
Boston Deeps. The Corporation were enabled to make such 
locks, sluices, and other works as were necessary for the naviga- 
tion, the expense of which undertaking was then estimated at 
d62,O0O. The Commissioners of Sewers also ordained, as this 
work was undertaken at the expense of the Corporation and 
their friends, that the aldermen, and burgesses, and their suc- 
cessors should receive, for all boats passing through each lock, 
such a competent consideration as should be fit and convenient. 
This order was confirmed by King James the First, who fixed the 
tonnage at the sum of threepence ; and also, granted to the Cor- 
poration the fishery of the new river. The tolls arising from the 
navigation were leased by the Corporation of Stamford at a very 
nominal rent ; first to one, Daniel Wigmore, and subsequently to 
others. 

The length of the cut from Hudd's Mill below Stamford to 
the lock, at East Deeping, was nine miles and a half, and on this 
length twelve locks were erected, which were made of a capacity to 
receive vessels of seven feet beam. Vessels of greater burden than 
fifteen tons could not navigate the cut ; and before the construc- 
tion of railways the goods, consisting chiefly of coal and timber, 
were usually taken up to Stamford in gangs of four lighters, of 
from seven to fourteen tons burden. The voyage from the 
Scalp, at the mouth of the river Witham, where the ships lay to 
discharge their cargoes, through Spalding to Stamford was about 
50 miles, and was performed in three or four days. 

In Queen Elizabeth's reign a petition was presented to the 
Queen by the inhabitants of Deeping and the other towns having 



122 

right of common in the fens, viz., Deeping, Spalding, Pinchbeck, 
Thurlby, Bourn, and Crowland, setting out the lost condition of 
these fens, owing to the decay of the banks of the Welland and 
the Glen, and the condition of the sewers and water courses, and 
that by properly draining the same these fens might be greatly 
improved ; and praying the Queen to direct a Commission of 
Sewers to make enquiry and undertake such works as they should 
deem necessary for their recovery, and recommending a Mr. 
Thos. Lovell as the undertaker for such works, he having acquired 
a considerable knowledge of draining in foreign parts. 

In compliance with the prayer of the memorialists, a Com- 
mission of Sewers was issued, which sat a Bourn, and also at 
Market Deeping. After inquiry, they granted to Lovell a 
concession of the right to drain these fens, on condition that the 
same should be done solely at his own expense within a period 
of five years. As recompense, he was to have a third part of 
the reclaimed land, but only on condition that he should maintain 
the works in a state of efficiency, and perfect the drainage of the 
fens so that they should be firm and pasturable both in summer 
and winter. Lovell at once commenced operations, and expended 
the whole of his fortune, about i£12,000, but owing to the 
opposition of the fenmen, who broke down his banks and other- 
wise destroyed his works, the attempt was unsuccessful. A few 
years later the Commissioners for the drainage of the great 
Bedford Level, sitting at Wisbech, laid a tax of thirty shillings 
an acre on Deeping Fen for the purposes of reclamation, which 
not being paid, the Commissioners of Sewers made certain 
proposals to King James the First, who directed Sir Clement 
Edmonds to visit the fens, and report to him as to their condition, 
and also as to the state of the Welland. The Commissioners found 
the river so bad that they were forced to carry their boats three 
or four miles between Spalding and Fosdyke for want of a current 



123 

to carry them down the channel, the water then being only six 
inches deep at a distance of two miles below Spalding. The 
King, having heard Sir Clement's report, in answer to the 
petition, signified his pleasure by the Lord Bishop of London ta 
let them know that they might proceed to make a decree for the 
further and more perfect draining of the fen, and thereby to 
awai'd as well from his Majesty, being lord of the soil, as from 
the former adventurers and others interested therein such pro- 
portion of land as might sufficiently bear the charge of the work ; 
and, because his Majesty intended to see the whole of the Great 
Bedford Level prosecuted accordingly to his first princely design 
(it being for the country's good and his own service) in a manner 
that would most conduce to the public and general advantage of 
the whole fens, he was further pleased to declare himself the 
sole adventurer for the drainage of Deeping Fen. The King 
was unable to carry out his royal intentions, and matters remained 
in abeyance until the 17th year of Charles the First, when a 
fresh Commission being appointed they found that the Earl of 
Exeter was the owner of one-third of the Fens, by contract made 
with Thomas Lovell, the former adventurer, but that he had not 
carried out the terms of the original contract, the fens still 
remaining drowned ; and they therefore granted one-half of the 
land to Sir William Ayloff and Sir Anthony Thomas, the great 
contractors of those days, in consideration of their undertaking 
the drainage. They, in partnership with other adventurers, at 
once set about the " exsiccation " of the fen ; and for this 
purpose widened and deepened the Welland from Spalding to the 
sea, and made it navigable : they also cleaned out and enlarged 
the di'ain which had been cut by Lovell, which passed under the 
Welland by a sunken tunnel near Co whit. Another drain, called 
the Staker, 20 feet in width, was cut parallel with the Glen to> 
relieve that river. Another drain, called Hill's drain, was also 



124 

cut, which clischaTgcd into the Wclland at Spalding, where was 
erected a great sluice. The Vematt's drain, running from Pode 
Hole past Surfleet to the sea, was also made at this time. The 
banks on both sides of the Welland, made by the former 
adventurers, were also strengthened and completed. These 
banks are placed at a great distance apart, in some places as much 
as a mile, leaving a large area of land, which forms a reservoir 
for the waters in times of heavy floods, and relieves the pressure 
on the banks of the river. These spaces or " washes," which 
used formerly to grow only flags and reed grass, now are very 
valuable either for fodder or the pasturage they afi'ord to great 
numbers of cattle which are turned on them in the summer 
months. In winter they are under water ; and if the temperatm'e 
falls sufficiently low become frozen, and form a splendid skating 
ground. Cowbit wash has long been celebrated for its skaters, 
and people have come fi'om all parts of the country to join in the 
matches that are held there. 

By the works above enumerated the land was so well drained 
that in summer the whole fen yielded great quantities of grass 
and hay, and would have been made winter ground in a short 
time, but that the country people, taking advantage of the confu- 
sion throughout the whole kingdom, which ensued soon after the 
convention of the long Parliament, possessed themselves thereof; 
so that the banks and sewers, being neglected by the adven- 
turers, it became again overflowed, and so remained nearly 100 
years. 

In 1G50 Sir Cornelius Vermuyden in carrying out the works 
for the drainage of the Bedford Level, in order to protect the 
*' North Level" from the waters of the Welland, constructed a 
bank, extending from Peakirk to Crowland, and thence to 
Brotherhouse, where it unites with the Holland Bank. This bank 
was made seventy feet broad at the bottom and eight feet high, 



125 

and an excellent road is now maintained on its top, forming a 
direct communication between Peakirk and Spalding. 

The next attempt to drain these Fens appears to have been 
made in 1729, by Captain Perry, an engineer who had been 
engaged on works in the Thames, who erected windmills for 
working wheels for lifting the water out of Deeping Fen into 
the Vematt's drain. These mills do not appear to have been 
very successful, the fen being reported subsequently to be almost 
in a lost state. 

Stone, in his review of the survey of the agriculture of Lin- 
colnshire, remarks : " The drainage of Deeping fen is chiefly 
effected by three wind engines, above Spalding, that lift the 
Deeping fen water into the Welland, the bed of which is higher 
than the land to be drained, assisted by a side cut called the 
West Load, which falls into the Welland just below Spalding, 
and which district, in violent floods, in a calm [when the engines 
cannot work, is reduced to a most deplorable condition, more 
especially when the banks of the Welland give way, or overflow, 
as happened in 1798." 

The sluice at the end of the Glen was erected some few years 
after this, for an inscription on it bears date 1739, and states 
that it " was erected and built by order of the honourable adven- 
turers of Deeping Fen, according to the model and direction of 
Messrs. Smith and Grundy." 

In the year 1794 an Act was obtained (34 Geo. III. c. 102) 
for improving the outfall of the river Welland, for the better 
drainage of the fen lands, and for improving the navigation of 
the river, by means of a new cut to be made from a place called 
the Reservoir, in the parish of Surfleet, near where the Vernatt's 
drain and the Glen river discharge into the Welland, to be 
cai'ried thence through the enclosed and open salt marshes into 

Wyberton Roads. For the purpose of carrying out the Act, a 
Q 



126 

body was constituted called the Welland Commissioners, and the 
money was raised by a tax on the lands, distributed as follows : — 
Deeping fen and common were to pay eighteen pence an acre ; 
lands in Cowbit and Orowland washes six pence an acre ; 
Spalding and Pinchbeck old inclosures, between the Glen and 
Westlode, six pence ; Pinchbeck, north of the Glen, twopence ; 
lands in Surfleet, Gosberton, Sutterton, Quadring, Algarkirk and 
Fosdyke, draining by Risegate Eau, or by the five-towns tunnel, 
twopence an acre. The design was partially carried out, the 
contemplated new cut extending only as far as Fosdyke bridge. 
Seven years afterwards, in 1801, an Act was obtained for 
draining, dividing, allotting, and enclosing Deeping, Langtoft, 
Baston, Spalding, Pinchbeck, and Cowbit commons, and also 
for draining Croyland common, otherwise called Goggushland. 
Under the powers of this Act (41 Geo. III. c. 128) several large 
arterial drains were either newly cut, or the old ones (made by 
Lovell and others) altered and enlarged, which brought the 
whole of the waters off the fen and discharged them into the 
Vernatt's drain at Podehole. The principal drains constructed 
at this time were the South Drove drain, 8f miles in length ; 
the North Drove drain, 5f miles ; the Cross drain and the 
Counter drain, 6| miles. The total distance of the outfall, at 
the confluence of the Witham and the Welland, from Podehole 
about 15 miles, or 18 miles from the lowest lands in the 
fen, and the fall from the surface of the lowest lands at low 
watermark was about 15 feet. 

Fosdyke Bridge was built in the year 1812 by a private 
company, an A&t having been obtained for the purpose. 

In 1824, an amended Act (51 Geo. III. cap. 71) having been 
obtained, the Welland Commission was reconstituted, and was 
made to consist of thirteen trustees, one of whom was to be 
elected by the Corporation of Stamford, and one by the owners 



127 

of the old enclosed lands in Spalding and Pinchbeck. The 
trustees were to be elected every three years, and their special 
duty was " the maintenance, support, and improvement of the 
new cut from the Eeservoir to Fosdyke, and the drainage and 
navigation thereby." They were relieved from the liability 
entailed on them by the former Act from extending the new 
channel lower down than Fosdyke Bridge, and were authorised 
to carry out works for the removal of shoals in the Welland 
from and below the staunch fixed across the river above Spal- 
ding, and through the town, and for training the waters 
through Fosdyke Marsh. They were also authorised, for navi- 
gation purposes, to place draw doors across the mouth of the 
river Glen at the request of the Deeping Fen Adventurers and 
the Dykereeves of Gosberton, Surfleet, and Pinchbeck. To 
assist in paying for these improvements, the tax of one shilling 
for Deeping Fen, and such parts of the late commons as had 
been sold by the Inclosure Commissioners, and sixpence per 
acre on the lands between the Glen and the Westlode was con- 
tinued ; the allotments of the commons, the lands north of the 
Glen, and those draining by Risegate Eau, and the five -towns 
sluice being exonerated from further payment ; and the trustees 
were further empowered to demand tonnage on all vessels using 
the new channel of the Welland, the tolls being fixed at a maxi- 
mum of 2d. per^ ton on coals, 4d. per last on oats, 4d for the 
half last of wheat, and 4d. per ton on general goods, and other 
rates in proportion. This Act was again amended (in 1837) by 
the 1 Vict., cap. 113, which, after reciting that the river had 
become deteriorated, and the taxes sanctioned by former Acts 
were not sufficient, gives power to raise them according to a 
fixed schedule. The principal dues were by this Act 3d per ton 
on all ships and boats, 3d. per quarter on wheat, other corn l^d., 
coals 6d. per ton. The money raised was to be applied to the 



128 

improvement of the river from Spalding to Clayhole, by training 
and embanking it. Power was also given to erect quays and 
wharves, to levy wharfage rates, to employ pilots, and hire and 
maintain a pilot sloop, and appoint a harbour master. 

Spalding is part of the Port of Boston, and up to the year 
1842 all vessels navigating the Welland had paid tonnage 
and lastage dues to the trustees of that port ; but by the Act 5 
Vict., cap. iv., in consideration of the Welland Trustees paying 
to the Boston Harbour Trustees the sum of £5000, being part 
of a debt then due to the Exchequer Loan Commissioners on the 
security of the tolls and dues, and also paying one-third of the 
annual expenses to be incurred by the Boston Harbour Commis- 
sioners in maintaining the buoys, beacons, and sea marks of the 
port ; the said trust was to give up all claim to dues on vessels 
navigating the Welland, and the Welland Trustees were autho- 
rised to collect a tonnage rate of sixpence, and lastage rate of 
one penny on wheat, and one halfpenny on other com. Under 
the same Act, and also another passed in the same year, the 
Boston Harbour Trust and the Welland Trust were empowered 
severally to execute any works for the improvement of the navi- 
gation of their rivers up to the point of confluence ; and below 
that jointly to execute any works for the improvement of the 
outfall of the said waters into Clayhole. 

The taxes and tolls authorised to be levied by these Acts not 
proving sufficient to maintain these works, in the Session of 1867 
another Act was obtained, giving powers to the Trustees to bring 
into taxation again the lands which from 1794 until the act of 
1824 had been taxed ; and also other lands which had hitherto 
used the river as the outfall for its waters, without contributing 
to the expense of its maintenance ; for from the preamble of this 
Act, it appears that out of 85,000 acres of land draining by the 
Welland, only 24,000 paid taxes, producing £535 per annum ; 



129 

and that the dues from vessels, which in 1846 had exceeded 
£6000, had gradually diminished to £998 in 1865. At this 
time there were charges on the trust to the amount of £6000 
due on mortgage, and the sum of £1000 in addition had been 
borrowed of the treasurer, on the personal security of the Com- 
missioners, to carry out works of emergency. From this it 
would appear that the revenues at the disposal of the Commis- 
sioners had become most seriously diminished, owing to the 
decline of the navigation, arising no doubt from the alteration in 
the method of transit for all articles of produce and consumption, 
and chiefly of corn and coal, by the formation of railways. The 
only communication the interior of the fens had with other parts 
of the country, previous to railways, was by means of boats 
navigating the arterial drains and the great fen rivers ; but the 
greater certainty and convenience of the railway system has to a 
great extent superseded the canals, and Spalding, with all 
towns similarly situated, has suffered accordingly. The land 
has benefitted to a very considerable degree and increased in 
value, owing to the railways, and can therefore easily afford a 
small additional burden for the maintenance of the outfall 
drainage, on the preservation of which its whole prosperity 
depends. 

Having thus named the various legislative enactments which 
have been made with respect to this district, there remains now 
only briefly to notice the engineering operations that have been 
carried out under the powers of the various Acts, and the 
present state and prospects of the river. Commencing with 
this century, the first engineers who were engaged in this district 
are Messrs. Eennie, Maxwell, Hare, and Jessop, whose reports 
chiefly relate to the interior drainage of Deeping Fen, and the 
improvement of the Vernatt's Drain. In the year 1812 a report 
was made by Mr. Bevan, on the improvement of the navigation 



130 

and drainage of the river Welland. He describes the river as 
being greatly improved by the new cut made from the Reservoir 
to Fosdyke, but that below that point the river had a very 
winding channel, obstructed by sands and shoals. To remedy this, 
he proposed that a new cut should be excavated from Fosdyke 
Fen, through the marshes, to the Witham opposite Hobhole, and 
that a sluice should be erected at the end of this cut. The expense 
of this and other improvements was estimated at £150,000. 

In 1815, Mr. Thomas Pear made a report to the effect that 
the drainage was in a very unsatisfactory condition, the water 
often standing six feet on the cill of the old Vernatt's sluice, 
which was the outlet for the drainage of Deeping Fen, including 
an area of 30,000 acres, which were drained by means of fifty 
wind engines. This outlet was over-ridden by the waters of the 
Welland and the Glen. The cause of this was the defective 
etate of the outfall below Fosdyke bridge ; neap tides, which 
rose 15 feet at the junction of the rivers, never reaching Spalding, 
a distance of 15 miles. He proposed as a remedy, a new cut 
two miles in length, commencing at a point near the Holbeach 
and Whaplode sluice, and about two miles below Fosdyke inn, to 
be made through the embanked lands and open salt marshes, and 
ending with an outfall near Holbeach middle sluice ; the channel 
to be fifty feet wide, and five feet above the low-water mark in 
the south channel, with a rise of one foot per mile. He also 
proposed the erection of a lock or new sluice, a Httle above the 
Reservoir, for the purpose of keeping up a navigable head of 
water in dry seasons, and to be so contrived as to admit the 
free influx of the tides, and at the same time to be clear for the 
outflowing of land water ; and a similar pen sluice for the river 
Olen ; the estimated cost of the improvements he put at £50,000. 

In the year 1818, Mr. John Rennie made a report to the 
proprietors of lands in Deeping Fen on the improvement of the 



131 

outfall of the Vernatt's drain. The result of his survey of the 
district was that he found the whole of Deeping Fen " almost in 
a lost state." At that time the sluice at Pode-hole, where the 
Vernatt's drain commences, had three openings of 10 feet each, 
giving a water way of 30 feet. The Vernatt's sluice, the outlet 
of the drain, had two openings with the same width of water 
way. This sluice, some years later (in 1842), was blown up, the 
water having forced its way under the foundations, and was 
replaced in 1857 with a new structure, built from the designs of 
the late Mr. Lewin, the cill being placed several feet lower than 
the old one. The foundation-stone was laid by Sir John Trollope. 
Mr. Kennie approved the scheme already proposed for making a 
new cut from Fosdyke to the Witham, but as a modification of 
that plan, he proposed that a new cut should be made from the 
Vernatt's sluice, to take the Deeping Fen waters only, passing 
under the Glen by an aqueduct, and running along the north 
bank of the Welland to Fosdyke ; then along the enclosed lands 
for half a mile, across the sea bank, and along the open marshes 
to the Witham at Hob-hole, with a sluice at the end. The 
length of this channel would be 8 J miles, the total distance from 
the Cross Drove drain in Deeping Fen, to the outfall, being 23| 
miles, and ordinary low water mark at that time, standing at 
three feet three inches on Hob -hole cill, which was 17 feet 
below the surface of the land in the fen, allowing the water to 
stand two feet under the surface of the land, and giving a fall 
throughout the whole length of the new channel of six inches per 
mile. This cut would also take the waters discharging from the 
lands draining by the Gosberton Five Towns and Kirton OutfallSy 
amounting together to 18,000 acres. The estimated cost of 
this work was £123,650. In recommending this plan, Mr.. 
Bennie was no doubt influenced by the principle which he always 
so strongly advocated, of concentrating all the waters possible 



132 

into one tidal outfall ; and, regarded as a matter of principle, and 
as part ot a whole scheme, of which the Witham was the outfall, 
there is no doubt he was correct ; but for the plan to have been 
successful it would have been necessary that the outfall of this 
river should have been dealt with in a very different manner 
from that which subsequent experience has shown to be the case. 
Mr. Rennie based his calculations on the fact that low water 
mark at Hob -hole would be maintained at the same level as he 
then found it ; but the utter neglect of this part of the river 
Witham, combined with improvements in the upper reaches, has 
resulted in a gradual raising of the low water mark of from three 
to four feet ; low water at Hob-hole cill now constantly standing 
at seven and eight feet. 

Mr. Rennie's plan not being adopted, a report was obtained 
from Mr. Thomas Pear, who recommended the application of 
steam power for the drainage of this fen, which at this time was 
very imperfectly accomplished by wind engines, being sometimes 
wholly under water. This recommendation was endorsed by Mr. 
Bevan, who, in a report dated March 1st, 1828, advises the 
erection of two engines at Pode-hole, and the deepening of the 
drains. Being thus advised, the Deeping Fen Trustees obtained 
the necessary powers, and in the year 1824 the engines were 
erected. These are two condensing beam engines of 80 and 60 
horse power, working two scoop wheels, the larger of which is 28 
feet wide, with five feet float boards. The average immersion is 
about two feet ten inches, and the head of water against which 
the engines have to work is sometimes as much as six feet. 
Owing to the subsidence of the land — the improved cultivation 
and working of which had the efi'ect of depressing the surface of 
the fen as much as two feet — the wheels have recently had to 
be lowered. The large wheel revolves at the rate of four miles 
an hour, and the two wheels, when at full work, can discharge 



138 

300 tons of water per minute. The total quantity of land 
drained by the engines is 25,000 acres, and the number of days 
the engines run varies from 50 to 100, according to the season. 
The working of these engines at first was not so satisfactory as 
was anticipated, and Mr. W. S. Mylne, C.E., a very eminent 
authority on the subject, was called in to report on them. In his 
report, dated July 16th, 1830, he condemns the erection of two 
engines in one place, the drains not being able to supply them 
without lowering the level of the water near the engines too low 
for advantage to the land. He further advised the lowering of 
the wheels and the deepening and improving of the interior drains. 
Whatever the first effect may have been, there is no doubt that 
the ultimate effect has been the reclamation of this fen, which 
before their erection, had been in a half cultivated condition, and 
subsequently has grown excellent crops of wheat and other 
produce, and the value of the land nearly doubled.* 

No steps having been taken to carry out the recommendations 
for the improvement of the outfall, it gradually became worse 
and worse, till in the year 1835 it was reported that at low water, 
in dry seasons, there were only a few inches of water at Fosdyke. 
Vessels di'awing three feet of water could not float except at the 
top of spring tides, and vessels drawing six feet could not depend 
on floating at springs, and no vessel, except barges, could reach 
Spalding at all. In fact the state of the river had become so 
bad, that the Commissioners were compelled to take active 
measures, or see the whole drainage of the district ruined. Mr. 
Jas. Walker, C.E., was therefore consulted, and in an able and 



* Arthur Young, in his survey of Lincolnshire, speaking of Deeping Fen, says :— 
" Twenty years ago tlie land sold for about three pounds an acre ; some was then let 
at seven and eight shillings an acre ; and a great deal was in such a state that nobody 
would rent it, now it is in general worth twenty shilling an acre, and sells at twenty 
pounds. Ten thousand acres of it are taxable under commissioners, and pay up to 
twenty shillings, but as low as two shillings ; the average is about four shillings, 
including poor rate and all tithes free." 
B 



134 

detailed report, bearing date November 7th, 1835, he sets out 
the works he considers desirable for the improvement of the 
outfall. These consisted in training the river, in the first instance, 
as far as Holbeach middle sluice, a distance of nearly three miles, 
and ultimately to Clayhole. The area of the uninclosed space, 
or estuary, below Fosdyke bridge he found to be 5000 acres, 
4000 of which were available for reclamation. The estimated 
cost of the fascine training for the two miles seventy four chains 
was £18,000, and the advantage to be gained — a very considerable 
lowering of the bed of the river, and the more rapid discharge of 
the water. Mr. Walker's report having been approved, powers 
were obtained, as already mentioned, to increase the tolls, and 
the money having been borrowed of the Exchequer Loan Com- 
missioners, the work was commenced by Mr. Beasley. 

The plan adopted by Mr. Walker for training the river was 
first proposed to him by Mr. Beasley, and was found to be so 
simple and inexpensive, as compared with other methods, and at 
the same time so effective, that it has since been used in all 
similar works in the estuary. It consists of barrier walls, or 
banks made of thorn faggots about six feet long and three feet 
girt, which are laid in the water in courses varying in width in 
proportion to the depth, and as each course, which is weighted 
with clay, sinks, others are laid on till the bank is raised to about 
half tide level. The branches of the thorns interlace one with 
another, and the silt brought up by the tides rapidly deposits 
amongst and at the back of this fascine work, and thus a solid 
embankment is formed, of sufficient strength and tenacity to 
withstand the strongest tidal current. 

From a subsequent report of Mr. Walker's, it appears that in 
October, 1838, the new channel had been successfully formed 
with fascine work for one and a half mile below Fosdyke bridge, 
the cost of this portion being j£7026. The good result was 



135 

immediate and most satisfactory, for vessels drawing eight feet of 
water could get along the new channel to Fosdyke with greater 
certainty than those of three feet could before, the water con- 
sequently being lowered nine feet. Mr. Walker concludes this 
report by saying that his original design extended to carrying the 
channel four miles below the bridge, but that this ought not to be 
the limit of the work, and adds, '* where nature is at hand to do 
so much, the direction should be extended quite to the Witham." 
The fascine work was extended about another mile after this, 
with still further advantage, for in 1845 it is reported that the 
effect of the fascine work had been to lower the river about 
seven feet from Fosdyke Bridge downwards. The recommenda- 
tion of Mr. Walker for its continuance has not been attended to ; 
but on the contrary, owing to a scarcity of money, arising from 
causes already alluded to, the work which was then perfected was 
neglected, in consequence of which the tides gradually worked 
behind the fascine work, and the whole was in danger of being 
swept away. But after a considerable loss had been incurred, 
the Trustees and some of the Proprietors interested, met at 
Spalding on the 27th of August, 1866, and convinced of the 
urgency of the case, by the report of their able Superintendent, 
Mr. Kingston, determined to borrow sufficient money, on their 
own personal liability, to put the fascine work in sufficient repair 
to prevent further damage until they could apply to Parliament 
for increased powers of taxation. In 1867 an Act was obtained, 
as already mentioned, and the funds placed at their disposal by 
the additional lands brought into taxation by the Act of last 
Session, will enable the Trustees to maintain the present works ; 
but it must be a matter of regret that a more comprehensive 
scheme for extending the training to the junction of the Witham 
was not brought forward. It has been stated by no less an authority 
than the late Mr. Pear, who was most intimately acquainted with 



136 

the district, that in his opinion " there is no part of these fens 
but what is susceptible of the most complete natural drainage 
without the aid of engines or other appliances ; " and if this be 
the case there is no doubt that a natural drainage is far preferable 
to an artificial one. A comprehensive scheme, which would 
embrace the training, by fascine work, of the two rivers Witham 
and Welland to one common outfall, while rendering available the 
reclamation of several thousand acres of now useless sands, 
would at the same time improve most materially the navigation 
and the drainage, and add to the prosperity of the country ; and 
even if it be found that, owing to the subsidence of the soil, Mr. 
Pear's theory is no longer correct, yet the head of water could 
be so lowered as to render unnecessary the use of the engines 
except in extreme floods, affecting a large annual saving in coals 
and working expenses. It is no new experiment : the plan has 
been tried, and found to be successful at a moderate cost. 
Wherever training has been carried out, an immediate and 
palpable benefit has ensued ; and no money which has been laid 
out on drainage has ever brought a better return than that which 
was expended on the main outfalls. Unless these are preserved 
all interior drainage must prove defective. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE ORIGIN AND CONSTITUTION OF THE COURT OF SEWERS. 

Until the reign of Henry the VHI., the watercourses and sea 
banks of the country may be said to have been without any 
special protection, and great loss was frequently incurred by the 
eruption of the tides through neglected banks, and by the flood- 
ing of the country, owing to obstructions in the rivers caused 
either by accumulation of deposit, or by weirs and mill dams 
placed across them by persons for their own profit and advantage. 
There was of course a remedy at common law, but the difficulty 
and uncertainty of obtaining redress led generally to an appeal 
to the King, for we are told ** that our ancient monarchs were 
much interested in preserving their dominions from the ravages 
of the sea, and that their subjects were as careful to second these 
designs by keeping up a system of drainage. Accordingly, on 
the one hand, it is to be found in our legal history, that it was 
not only the custom of the Kings of England, but their duty also, 
to save and defend the realm against the sea, as well as against 
enemies, so that it should neither be drowned nor wasted ; and 
on the other, that to stop the water channels which were made 
from time to time for public or private convenience, was a 
grievous offence punishable by action or indictment, according 
to the nature of the wrong; that it was held that the King's 
subjects ought by the common law to have their passage through 
the realm by bridges and highways in safety, so that if the sea 
walls were broken, or the sewers and gutters not secured, that the 
fresh waters might have their direct course, the King was 
empowered to grant a commission to enquire into and hear and 



136 

the district, that in his opinion " there is no part of these fens 
but what is susceptible of the most complete natural drainage 
without the aid of engines or other appliances ; " and if this be 
the case there is no doubt that a natural drainage is far preferable 
to an artificial one. A comprehensive scheme, which would 
embrace the training, by fascine work, of the two rivers Witham 
and Welland to one common outfall, while rendering available the 
reclamation of several thousand acres of now useless sands, 
would at the same time improve most materially the navigation 
and the drainage, and add to the prosperity of the country ; and 
even if it be found that, owing to the subsidence of the soil, Mr. 
Pear's theory is no longer correct, yet the head of water could 
be so lowered as to render unnecessary the use of the engines 
except in extreme floods, affecting a large annual saving in coals 
and working expenses. It is no new experiment : the plan has 
been tried, and found to be successful at a moderate cost. 
Wherever training has been carried out, an immediate and 
palpable benefit has ensued ; and no money which has been laid 
out on drainage has ever brought a better return than that which 
was expended on the main outfalls. Unless these are preserved 
all interior drainage must prove defective. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE ORIGIN AND CONSTITUTION OF THE COURT OF SEWERS. 

Until the reign of Henry the VHI., the watercourses and sea 
banks of the country may be said to have been without any 
special protection, and great loss was frequently incurred by the 
eruption of the tides through neglected banks, and by the flood- 
ing of the country, owing to obstructions in the rivers caused 
either by accumulation of deposit, or by weirs and mill dams 
placed across them by persons for their own profit and advantage. 
There was of course a remedy at common law, but the difficulty 
and uncertainty of obtaining redress led generally to an appeal 
to the King, for we are told ** that our ancient monarchs were 
much interested in preserving their dominions from the ravages 
of the sea, and that their subjects were as careful to second these 
designs by keeping up a system of drainage. Accordingly, on 
the one hand, it is to be found in our legal history, that it was 
not only the custom of the Kings of England, but their duty also, 
to save and defend the realm against the sea, as well as against 
enemies, so that it should neither be drowned nor wasted ; and 
on the other, that to stop the water channels which were made 
from time to time for public or private convenience, was a 
grievous ofience punishable by action or indictment, according 
to the nature of the wrong; that it was held that the King's 
subjects ought by the common law to have their passage through 
the realm by bridges and highways in safety, so that if the sea 
walls were broken, or the sewers and gutters not secured, that the 
fresh waters might have their direct course, the King was 
empowered to grant a commission to enquire into and hear and 



140 

determine the defaults." — (Callis.) Again, Fitzherbert says 
*'that these commissions were granted when the sea walls were 
broken, or when the sewers and gutters were in need of repairs, 
so that the fresh waters could not have their courses ; and that 
the commissions in question issued, because the King was bound 
of right so to keep his kingdom against the sea, as that it were 
not drowned, or wasted, and also to provide that his subjects 
should pass through the kingdom with safety." — fWoolrych on the 
Law of Sewers,) 

The commission, thus issued by the King, consisted of two or 
more persons holding either a judicial position in the kingdom or 
of considerable standing, who were directed to hear all complaints, 
and had power to levy fines and make orders for the necessary 
works to be done for repairing and maintaining the sea banks, 
and cleansing and keeping open the sewers. The commissions 
were issued by virtue of the King's prerogative at common law, 
and the first parliamentary recognition of sewers and sea defences 
was in the days of Magna Charta, by which it was provided that 
no town, nor fireeman, should be distrained to make bridges or 
banks, but such as of old time and of right had been accustomed 
to do so, by which it appears that the njaintaining of the sea 
defences had been considered a special grievance by those who 
had been distrained for their repairs. 

Commissions continued to be issued by the Crown in virtue of 
the King's prerogative until the reign of Henry VI., when it was 
enacted by Parliament that, considering " the great damage and 
losses which have happened by the great inundation of waters in 
divers parts of the realm — Lincolnshire being particularly 
mentioned, — and that much greater damage is likely to ensue if 
remedy be not speedily provided, that during the years next 
ensuing several commissions of sewers shall be made to divers 
persons by the Chancellor of England for the time being," who 



141 

were to enquire of annoyances of defaulters to repair the sea 
banks, and make such orders as they deemed necessary, with 
power to fine and distrain those who refused to obey them. 

These commissions were renewed by succeeding Parliaments 
until the sixth year of Henry the VIII. reign, when they were 
declared to endure for ever, and the Chancellor was invested with 
perpetual authority to grant such commissions wherever need 
should require. This Act was incorporated with another, passed 
in the 23rd year of the same reign, in which all the former 
enactments were contained ; and although some alterations and 
additions were made in the reigns of Edward the VI. and Queen 
EHzabeth, yet the 23, Henry VIII., cap., 5, still continues to 
be considered the chief structure on which the powers and duties 
of commissions of Sewers have been reared. In the reign of 
William the IV. several alterations were made in the original 
enactment, to adapt its working to modem times ; but the principle 
of its original constitution remained unaltered. 

The purpose for which the court was created was the preser- 
vation of marsh and low lands, and the maintenance of the sea 
banks and other defences, and the removal of impediments and 
obstructions made in the streams or sewers by the erection of 
mills, mill-dams, weirs, gates, &c., and they were to have survey 
over '' all walls, fences, ditches, banks, gutters, gates, sewers, 
callies, ponds, bridges, rivers, streams, water courses, &c." 

The word sewer appears in modem times to have a much 
more restricted, if not different meaning attached to it from that 
originally intended. The common acceptation of the word now 
is invariably associated with the disposal of the refuse water from 
dwelling houses and towns ; whereas formerly, it was applied to 
the protection of land from inundations, whether by the erection 
of banks, or by confining the rivers and streams in their proper 
channels. Authorities differ as to the derivation of the word, the 



142 

opinion of the learned Sergeant Callis, the great authority on the 
Law of Sewers, being that it was the diminutive of a river. 
Others tracing it to a corruption of the word ** issue ;" or seoir, 
to fit, and eau water ; or to sea and mere. According to one of 
these surmises, a sewer might be defined a wall or dam opposed 
to the inroads of the ocean ; or if the last be adopted, a fresh 
water trench supported by banks on either side for the purpose 
of carrying water into the sea. This last meaning is the one still 
attached to the word in the seas and marshlands, but beyond 
those parts the word now is used solely to denote those structural 
arrangements for the cleansing of towns and thickly populated 
places, which are deemed so necessary to the health and comfort 
of the inhabitants. 

The word " Gowt," ** Gote," or " Goat" which has received 
frequent mention throughout these pages, and which also may be 
considered as peculiar to fens and marshes, is used to express a 
certain construction in connexion with drainage, as for instance 
Anton's Gowt, Slippery Gowt. The word is derived from the 
Saxon, and is defined by CalHs to be " an engine erected and 
built with percuUesses and doors of timber, stone, or brick." 
Their use is said by the same authority to be twofold : the first 
to cause fresh water which has descended on low grounds to be 
let out through them into some creek of the sea ; and the second, 
to return back salt water direct, which during some great floods 
of the sea may have flowed in upon the land. 

Romney Marsh, a tract of land in the county of Kent, seems 
to possess the privilege of having first drawn up any definite rules 
for the guidance of commissions of sewers, and which formed a 
a precedent for the custom of all other fens and marshes. Nearly 
all the commissions, and even the statute of Henry VIII., directing 
that the laws and customs of the commissioners are to be made 
after the laws and customs of Romney Marsh." Thus also at 



148 

the building of the Grand Sluice, by May Hake, in Henry the 
Seventh's reign, assessment was made to raise the money, and the 
same was ordered to be levied according to the laws of Romney 
Marsh. Whence also were obtained a bailiff, juratts, and levellers. 
These laws were attributed to Sir Henry de Bathe, a judge in 
the reign of Henry the III. ; and Lord Coke observed, ** that 
not only those parts of Kent, but all England receive light and 
direction from those laws." 

The Court of Sewers, as now constituted, consists of persons 
holding freehold property in any part of the county to which the 
commission belongs, and who have qualified themselves by taking 
the necessary oaths. 

Persons qualified must by the Act of William the IV. be in 
possession of property in the county in which they shall act as 
Commissioners, of the yearly value of £100 ; or of lands held 
for a term of years of the clear yearly value of £200 ; or be 
heirs apparent to a person possessed of freehold property of the 
clear value of £200 : or the agent of qualified persons or bodies 
corporate holding freehold property. Every Commissioner before 
he can act must take an oath in the form set out in the statute 
of Henry the VIII. to perform his duties faithfully, and also as to 
his proper qualification. 

It will be observed that the word " Court " is used, and the 
proceedings are not purely ministerial, but are judicial, and con- 
sequently that there is a " Court ;" and as Mr. Callis observes, 
" Their Court is one of record, and an eminent Court of record." 
And so Lord Coke, when writing of courts, enumerates among 
them " The Court of Commissioners of Sewers." 

The commission lasts for ten years, at the end of which time, 
or on the demise of the reigning sovereign, a fresh commission is 
issued out of chancery ; but the proceedings of the old com- 
mission, after being once recorded in the rolls of the Court, 



144 

remain in force after its expiration. The Court may meet at 
such times as they think fit, but ten days notice of the intended 
meeting must be given by advertisement in a newspaper of the 
County. Six members form a court, and at each meeting those 
present elect their chairman. 

The court has power to direct the sherifi' to summon a jury 
*' to enquire of or concerning all or any of the matter and things 
authorised and directed to be enquired into, under any of the 
Acts and Laws of Sewers of old time accustomed, and to 
administer oaths to such jury." 

The first duty of a new commission is to summon a jury, who 
are to make a presentment as to the person liable to maintain and 
repair, or to contribute towards the repair and maintenance of 
all defences, banks, and other works under their jurisdiction ; 
and the verdict of such jury once had holds good during the 
whole time of the existence of the commission. 

The Commissioners have power to levy rates, as occasion may 
require, for every distinct level, valley, or district ; and to 
appoint such smTeyors, collectors, treasurers, and other officers 
for such district. This is the wording of the Act, but the 
ordinary course of proceeding is for each parish to appoint two 
officers, called in this county ' Dykereeves,' — to collect the rates 
and maintain the banks and sewers, — and these appointments 
and all their proceedings, are subject to the approval of the 
court. The dykereeves present their accounts to the vestry of 
the parish, at Easter. Surveyors are appointed by the court 
itself, who have the general supervision of the works, and when 
defects exist, their duty is to make a presentment to the court, 
who then order the dikereeves of the parishes in which the work 
is situated, at once to amend and repair the same, and levy rates 
for its payment. 

The obligation to maintain the sea banks originally was on 
those whose lands adjoined the sea, and this was called 



145 

the custom of frontagers, and which duty can only be put 
off by showing that some other persons are bound by 
prescription or otherwise. Again, this obligation attaches to 
some lands by the nature of their tenure, although such lands 
may not be near the sea ; but the difficulty of dealing with indi- 
vidual liabilities, when the safety of a whole level depends on 
immediate action, has principally thrown the obligation of repairs 
by custom on the whole township. But numerous instances 
still remain, where individual proprietors are liable ; and in case 
such persons do not maintain the particular banks, sluices, or 
sewers to which they are liable, after seven days' notice from the 
surveyor or dikereeve, the court may order the same to be done, 
and the expenses can be recovered by distress. 

This leads to a consideration with respect to the ownership 
of the sea banks. Mr. Callis says that " the ownership of a 
bank of the sea belongs to him whose grounds are next adjoin- 
ing, according to the principle adopted concerning highways." 
This ownership, of course, is only a limited one. The freehold 
belongs to the frontager or other person entitled thereto, and all 
advantages and privileges, as the herbage of the bank, &c., are 
his; but the Court of Sewers has complete control over the 
bank, and the owner cannot do any act to injure the safety or 
stability of the same. The custom with respect to the herbage 
of the banks is various — there can be no doubt that originally, 
where the frontager was liable to repair, this herbage naturally 
belonged to him ; — but when this obligation of repair was shifted 
on the township or parish, the privileges attaching, in most cases, 
went with it, as a means partly of defraying the expenses of 
maintenance of the banks. In many parishes the grass on the 
banks is regularly let, and the proceeds carried to the credit of 
the parish fund ; in others they have been treated as common or 
waste land and sold under inclosure awards — while again in 



146 

other parishes the frontagers still continue to claim the right — 
and no doubt the custom in each case has operated so long as to 
have become a right. 

As bearing on this subject it will not be out of place to refer 
to the great dispute which took place in Edward the Third's reign, 
between the Abbots of Peterborough and Swineshead, as to the 
proprietorship of the marsh land on the exterior of the banks 
which accreted by the deposition of the alluvium washed up by 
the tides, a process which was evidently going on rapidly in those 
days. The various commissions, arbitrations, and trials concern- 
ing this suit were spread over a period of 25 years, and it was 
only finally settled by an appeal to Parliament. 

The contention appears to have been as to the ownership of 
certain marshes in Gosberton (part of Bicker Haven) which had 
accreted, and which lay in front of the manor of the Abbot of 
Swineshead, on which ground he claimed it. The Abbot of 
Peterborough on the other hand set up a claim because, although 
it lay in front of the Abbot of Swineshead' s Manor, it was 
separated from it by a creek, the accretion of the land having 
gradually extended from the Manor of Peterborough in a lateral 
direction, so as to overlap the land of the adjoining proprietor. 
The following is the account given by Dugdale of the commence- 
ment of the proceeding : — '' Memorandum : That in the year 
of our Lord MCCCXLII., 16 Edward JIT., the Abbot of Swines- 
heved and Sir Nicholas de Ry, Knight, did implead the Abbot of 
Peterborough for CCCXL. acres of marsh, with the appurtenances, 
in Gosberchirche, viz., the Abbot of Swinesheved for CO. and Sir 
Nicholas for CXL., by two writs. And the first day of the 
Assizes at Lincolne was on Wednesday, being the morrow after 
the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula ; at which time there came 
thither Gilbert de Stanford, then Celerer to the convent, John de 
Achirche, bailifi'of the said Abbot's Manners ; together with Sir 



147 

John Wilughby, Lord of Eresby ; Sir John de Kirketon, and Sir 
Saier de Rochford, knights ; John de Multon, parson of Skirbek, 
as also divers others of the said Abbots Counsel. And because 
the defence of this trial seemed difficult and costly to the Abbot, 
in regard that his adversaries had privately and subtilly made 
the whole country against him, especially the Wapentake of 
Kirketon, he submitted to an amicable treaty of peace, on the 
day preceding the assize, the place of their meeting being in the 
chapter house of Lincolne : at which treaty, in the presence of 
Sir Nicholas de Cantilupe (who was the principal mediator 
betwixt them, as a friend to both sides) and other knights and 
friends, above specified, the said Abbot of Swynesheved and Sir 
Nicholas de Ry did set forth their claim in that marsh ; affirming 
that it did belong to them by right, by the custom of the country ; 
because that it was increased and grown to their own ancient 
marshes by addition of sand which the sea had by its Sowings cast 
up; insomuch as by that means coming to be firm land, they 
said that they ought to enjoy it, as far as Salten Ee ; and in 
regard that the said Abbot of Peterborough had possessed him- 
self thereof, contrary to right, and against the said custom, they 
had brought the assize oi novel disseisin in form aforesaid. 

** Whereunto the Counsel for the Abbot of Peterborough 
answered that the custom of this province of Holand, so stated 
by the plaintiffs, ought thus to be understoood and qualified, 
viz., that when, by such addition of any silt or sand, there 
should happen an increase of land, and, by the seas leaving 
thereof, become firm ground, it ought to belong unto him to 
whose firm and solid ground it first joined itself, without any 
respect whether it grew directly to it, or at one side. And they 
further said that the before specified marsh did originally join 
itself to the ancient marsh of the said Abbot of Peterborough, 
whereof that monastery had been seised time beyond memory. 



148 

as it appeared by Domesday Book, where it is recorded that the 
Abbot of Peterborough had XVI. salt pans in Donington ; more- 
over in the Charter of King Richard the First, there were con- 
firmed to the said Abbot three carucates of land, with the salt 
pans and pastures, and all their appurtenances, in Holand : so 
that the said soil increasing Httle by little ought not to belong to 
the Abbot of Swinesheved and Sir Nicholas, according to the cus- 
tom of the country ; because that a certain part of Salten Ee, 
which was not then dry land, did lye betwixt the old marsh 
belonging to the said Abbot of Swinesheved and Sir Nicholas, 
and the marsh whereof they pretended to be disseised : which 
part of Salten Ee could not at all be drained ; because that the 
fresh waters used to run through that place from the parts of 
Kesteven to the sea." 

It will be unnecessary to follow the case through all its various 
stages, the final settlement was made by six arbitrators who 
awarded that the Abbot of Peterborough was to pay a certain 
sum of money to the others, and they in return were to give up 
all their right to the marsh. ** And as to the future increase of 
ground, which might happen to either party, that it should be 
enjoyed by him to whose land it did lie most contiguous." And 
this was confirmed by the Parliament which sat in the 17th year 
of King Edward the Third's reign. But the question was again 
raised and was not finally settled till the 41st year of King Edward's 
reign, " when was that memorable verdict touching the customs 
of the country, that the lords of manors adjoining to the sea 
should enjoy the land which is raised by silt and sand, which the 
tides do cast up." 

The Court of Sewers has power besides the maintenance of old 
and existing defences, to make and construct new works, when 
it is necessary for the more efiectually defending and securing 
any lands within the jurisdiction of the court, against the irrup - 



149 

tion or overflowing of the sea, or for draining and carrying off the 
superfluous waters, but such new works cannot be made without 
the consent in writing of the owners or occupiers respectively of 
three fourths part at least of the lands lying within the valley, 
level, or district proposed to be charged with the costs and 
expenses of making and erecting such new works. When such 
consent is obtained the Court can borrow money for the execution 
of the works, to be repaid with interest in a period not exceeding 
fourteen years. 

Under the Land Drainage Act of 1861, Commissions of 
Sewers may, with the approval of the Inclosure Commissioners, 
be issued for districts where they have not formerly existed if it 
can be shown that the state of the drainage is such as to require 
some controlling body to superintend the outfalls ; but as the Act 
also gives the option between a Commission of Sewers or an 
Elective Drainage District, the latter method has been generally 
adopted in those places where the provisions of the Act have 
been applied. 

Thus it will be seen that the Court of Sewers is not only an 
ancient but a very important body of Commissioners, with 
responsible duties and extensive powers. They can summon 
juries, administer oaths, lay rates, levy fines, and issue distresses. 
Many of their acts are judicial, and can only be set aside by 
appeals to the higher courts. Before the existence of the 
Witham, Black Sluice, and other Drainage Commissioners, the 
whole of the sewers and drainage in this neighbourhood were 
under the control and management of the Court of Sewers, and 
even now there are few parishes which do not depend on the 
sewers, gowts, and sluices of the Court of Sewers for their 
drainage. The whole level of the fens, being under high water 
mark, would be covered with water at high spring tides but 



150 

for the sea banks erected by the Romans, and now under the 
jurisdiction of this Court ; and although perhaps not perfect in 
its constitution, the immunity of the country from any serious 
damage by floods in late years is a proof that its functions are as 
necessary, as well performed.* 



* The contents of this chapter are an addition to the papers on the Fens which 
appeared in the Stani/brd Mercury, but the greater part appeared in the ZdncolHshire 
Herald of Oct., 1866. 



CHAPTER VII. 



BOSTON HARBOUR AND HAVEN. 



The port of Boston consists of all that portion of the 
river Witham and its estuary from the town to the sea, over 
which the Corporation holds control under the charter granted 
by Queen Elizabeth. By this charter they are enabled to 
exercise Admiralty jurisdiction ** within the borough and port 
and also the roads and the deeps, commonly called the Norman 
Deeps, and over all streams and washes extending to Wainfleet 
Haven, and to a place called Pullye Heads, and to another place 
called Dog's Head in the Pot, and to the uttermost limits of the 
flowing and ebbing of the waters aforesaid and every of them, 
and adjoining to the sea and floods and streams of the borders 
and confines of the county of Norfolk ; " and also to take tolls 
and dues of all vessels entering the port, the proceeds of which 
were to be applied towards keeping the channel properly buoyed 
out. 

The positions of the buoys and beacons as first placed under 
this charter were as follows : — The first, nearest to Boston, at 
Westward Hurn ; the second at South Beacon ; the third at 
Scalp Hurn ; the fourth between Scalp Hurn and Elbow Beacon ; 
the fifth, the Elbow Beacon, at Stone Hawe ; the sixth. South 
Clay Beacon ; the seventh, the North Clay ; the eighth, midway 
between the North and High Hurn ; the ninth at High Hurn ; 
the tenth on the Main between Boston and Benington ; the 
eleventh and last, on the Long Sand. These beacons were 
fixed for the first time in the year 1580, and a survey of them 



T 



152 

was made in the month of August by the Mayor, Aldermen, and 
sundry Master Mariners — a practice which has been continued 
annually up to the present time. 

In the year 1796 an Act was obtained for the management of 
the pilotage, and the regulation of the rates ; the conduct of the 
same being committed to a trust' consisting of the Corporation 
and certain qualified Master Mariners and Merchants of the town. 

The dues which the Corporation was entitled to receive under 
their old charter proved insufiicient to maintain the harbour in a 
proper state of repair, and in consequence the quays went to 
decay and the river became much neglected ; their powers also 
being ill defined, encroachments were made on the river to the 
detriment both of the drainage and navigation. To remedy this 
state of things the Corporation obtained an Act of Parliament in 
the year 1819. This Act repealed the old tolls, and in their place 
granted certain wharfage dues (according to a schedule) on all 
goods landed or shipped from any wharf or quay between the 
Grand Sluice and Maud Foster, the tonnage dues being fixed at 
sixpence for British and ninepence for foreign vessels. A lastage 
duty of one penny per quarter on wheat and one half-penny on 
other grain was also imposed on all corn whatsoever put on board 
or landed out of any ship within the limits of the port. On the 
security of these dues the Corporation were authorised to raise a 
sum of £20,000 to build new quays and wharves, and to improve 
the river by widening and deepening and contracting the same. 
The new wall built along the eastern side of the river, from the 
south end of the Pack House quay to the bridge, and thence to 
the Fish-market, and the large warehouse on Packhouse quay, 
called the " London warehouse," were part of the improvements 
eflected. About this time, also, a considerable improvement was 
made by straightening the upper "part of the river by a new 
channel cut from the Grand Sluice to the Iron Bridge, the cost of 



153 

which was £8550, the work being contracted for by Messrs. 
Williamson and Woodward. 

Notwithstanding the works carried out under this Act, the 
navigation continued to be very much impeded by the state of the 
river below Maud Foster sluice. Several efforts had been made 
to induce the Drainage Commissioners to join with the Corporation 
in straightening and improving this portion of the river. Mr. 
Rennie had advised them to contribute liberally towards the cost 
of the work, and reported that a considerable saving could be 
effected in the drainage of the east and west fens by bringing the 
whole of the waters to Maud Foster instead of making a new cut 
where the Hobhole drain now is, but that to enable this to be 
done the river must first be improved. 

The Harbour Commissioners were prepared to contribute one- 
half the, cost of the work ; and at a meeting held at Boston, 
December 9th, 1800, at which were present several merchants, ship- 
owners, and traders, it was *' resolved that to promote the improve- 
ment of Boston Haven there shall be levied on all vessels entering 
inward and clearing outward at the port of Boston a duty of 
fourpence per ton ; which duty there is reason to beheve will be 
equal to the interest of about one half the capital sum which the 
said improvement will require according to the estimate of Mr. 
Eennie." The Drainage Commissioners declining to join with 
the Corporation on the ground that their scheme did not go far 
enough, inasmuch as it did not include the improvement of the 
outfall below Hobhole, the river was allowed to remain in its 
imperfect condition until 1825, when Sir John Eennie having 
been called in to advise, an Act was obtained in 1827 by which 
the Corporation were empowered to borrow a further sum of 
£20,000, and to carry out the works recommended by their 
engineer. These consisted of the straightening of the river by 
means of a new cut, 800 yards in length, through Burton's Marsh, 



154 

thus cutting off the great bend at Wyberton roads, and shorten- 
ing the distance to deep water one mile and a half. The contract 
for this work was undertaken by Messrs. Joliffe and Banks for 
the sum of £24,000, and finally completed in the' year 1833, at 
a total cost for land and works of £27,262. 

The remainder of Sir John Rennie's plan, embracing the 
straightening of the river from Skirbeck church to join this new 
cut, was not commenced till the year 1841, when Capt. Beasley 
undertook to train the channel, which was continually shifting 
between these two points, by fascine work, and to excavate where 
necessary, so as to make the river as nearly straight as possible. 
This work he successfully accomplished at a cost (including land) 
of £11,627. In the following year Mr. Beasley completed a 
fascine barrier on the west side of the river, from nearly opposite 
Maud Foster Sluice to the end of SHppery Gowt Marsh, the 
length of the same being about one mile, at a cost of £2775 ; 
and the water being thus confined in one channel, the land on 
either side gradually accreted, till it became level with the top of 
the fascine work, and rose to such a height as only to be covered 
with water at the top of the spring tides. The land so formed 
has been embanked within the last three years by Mr. Black and 
the Corporation, and where once the waters meandered about 
through shifting sands, the plough now is driven, and crops of 
corn and other produce are raised. 

Another considerable piece of training was the diversion of 
the waters from their circular course round Blue Anchor Bight 
Marsh to a straight line, by the fascine work carried out by the 
late Mr. Robt. Reynolds, and the same result has followed on 
the inside of this work, as already mentioned as taking place 
higher up the river. The sands and Marsh are novv good 
agricultural land, having been embanked two years since. The 



155 

amount expended by the Corporation in improving the channel of 
the river is as follows : — 

£ s. a. 

1825. — Cutting new channel for the river from the Grand 
Sluice to the Iron Bridge 3550 

1828 to 1833. — Cutting a new channel through Burton's 
Marsh, diverting the old channel 27,262 

1841. — Cutting a channel through Corporation Marsh, and 
making a fascine barrier on the eastern side of the river from 
Maud Foster to Corporation Point 11,627 

1842. — Fascine barrier on the west side of the river from 
Kush Point to the south end of Slippery Gowt Marsh 2,775 

1823 to 1859. — Sundry small contracts for extension of 
fascine work 7,555 o 

Fifteen years' expenditure in repairing and heightening the 
fascine work, and general maintenance of the river 5,250 

£58,019 
The shortening and straightening the river to deep water has 
been greatly serviceable to both navigation and drainage : the 
river is now maintained in as great a state of efficiency as 
practicable by the Corporation. The whole of the navigable 
channels are buoyed out, Hghts are placed when the tides serve 
in the dark, during the six winter months, at certain fixed points 
from Elbow buoy to the town by which vessels can steer their 
course. A pilot boat is always afloat in the lower part of the 
harbour, and an efficient stafi^ of pilots maintained. 

It has been stated that the Corporation under their ancient 
charter were entitled to collect dues from all vessels entering the 
port, which right was confirmed to them by the Act of 1812 ; 
but in the year 1842 an Act was obtained by which the dues on 
vessels navigating the Welland were transferred to the trustees of 
that river, and in consideration they were to pay to the Harbour 
Commissioners one-third of the cost of maintaining the buoys, 
beacons, and sea marks. By the same Act it was enacted that 
the Harbour Trustees should have the power to execute any works 



156 

for the improvement of the river as far as the point of confluence 
of the Witham and the Welland, but beyond this all works are to 
be done jointly and only with the consent of both trusts. 

The number of vessels frequenting the port of Boston has of 
late years very considerably diminished. The following statistics 
of the tonnage and lastage and the dues will show the state of 
trade of the port at different periods : — 



Year. 


Tonnage 
of Goods. 


Quarters of 
Grain. 


Dues. 




1800 


52,698 




£ s. d. 




1805 


62,980 


201,898 






1810 


86,256 


356,040 




( The greatest 


1811 




360,699 




< number of qrs. 


1815 


66,786 


246,160 




{ ever recorded. 


1820 




247,535 


2216 10 10 


1818 to 1833 


1830 




149,709 


2406 7 9 


[books burnt. 


1835 


69,386 








1840 


61,354 


141,759 


3300 1 2 




1845 


73,413 








1848 


94,060 






G.N.Ry. opened. 


1849 


56,800 








1850 


55,110 


114,399 


1866 5 




1855 


38,031 


57,910 


1160 6 




1860 


40,147 


65,547 


1297 7 7 




1861 


46,962 


93,485 


1522 2 6 


[reduced to 3d. 


1862 


43,220 


72,066 


805 8 2 


Tonnage dues 


1863 


41,687 . 


132,725 


981 16 7 


Last on wheat 


1864 


42,439 


113,491 


768 15 11 


[reduced to ^d. 


1865 


38,860 


102,004 


739 9 9 




1866 


38,014 


103,256 


691 4 3 




1867 


40,124 


127,329 


766 18 





The above returns are for the twelve months ending the 11th 
of October in each year. The dues at present levied are three- 
pence per ton on all goods, and one halfpenny per quarter on all 
grain shipped at the port. The Commissioners have power to 
raise these dues to sixpence per ton on goods and one penny per 
quarter on wheat. 

The decrease is in a great measure owing to the construction 
of the Great Northern Kailway, the loop line of which through 
Boston was opened in the year 1848. Before this time a very 
considerable trade was carried on by means of the Witham and 
other navigable canals with the interior of the country. Previous 
.to 1848 the river was the only means of conveyance for the 



157 

export of the corn brought to Boston from the large agricultural 
district by which it is surrounded, and for the import of the coals 
and other produce for consumption by the inhabitants of the fens, 
which were brought by sea to Boston and carried thence by boat 
and barge up the canals and drains to the fens. On the opening 
of the railway a fresh means of communication was provided, and 
a considerable amount of traffic diverted to it from the river. A 
very large trade in inland coals was also carried on by the Witham, 
the quantity which passed down through the Grand Sluice gradually 
increasing from the beginning of this century from about 12,000 
chaldrons to upwards of 30,000 in 1830. The duty being taken 
off sea coal in this year caused the amount to diminish to about 
13,000 chaldrons. From the opening of the railway in 1848 a 
steady decrease again took place, and the quantity now passing 
down the Witham is merely nominal compared to what it used 
to be. 

Several schemes have been promulgated from time to time for 
providing the port of Boston with better accommodation for its 
shipping. The most noticeable was a plan brought out by Mr. 
Staniland in the year 1845, at the time the Great Northern Rail- 
way was in progress. The company was organised under the 
name of the Boston Dock Company, with a capital of £200,000, 
its professed object being the "further improvement of the Haven 
and Outfall and the construction of Wet Docks." The scheme 
was very strongly supported, the Mayor of Boston and two-thirds 
of the Corporation being on the Provisional Committee, also seven 
magistrates of the borough, and several commissioners of the 
river Witham and Black Sluice, and a long array of landowners 
and merchants. The prospectus stated " That the port of 
Boston has for ages been the natural point of access to the ocean 
for a very extensive and exceedingly fertile tract of country. In 
early ages Boston ranked amongst the principal seaports of the 



158 

Island : in late years, however, partly owing to neglect and partly 
to other causes, the outfall has become bad and the navigation 
difficult," This state of affairs the company proposed to remedy 
by their scheme, and they considered the time a particularly 
opportune one, as the construction of the various railways then in 
progress would bring the port in connection with the whole of the 
Midland Counties. This scheme, so promising in appearance, 
proceeded no further than the formation of the company. The 
scarcity of money at the time, and other difficulties, caused the 
promoters to abandon it. 

The last attempt to improve the Port was made by the pro- 
moters of the Boston and Freiston Shore Railway, who proposed 
to construct a line from the Great Northern Railway, in Skirbeck 
Quarter, to Clayhole, opposite Freiston Shore, and there to con- 
struct a large pier and breakwater, by the side of which vessels 
of large size might lay afloat at all states of the tide. The bill 
having passed through the preliminary stages in the House of 
Commons was withdrawn, owing to its not being adequately sup- 
ported ; and its sister measure, got up by the same promoters for 
the reclamation of the marshes adjacent to their proposed railway, 
which became law, has not hitherto been acted on. 

Reference has already been made to the lands that were gained 
by the improvements which were made in the river in the years 
1833 and 1841. The largest tract, containing about three hundred 
acres, was sold by the Harbour Trustees to the late Mr. Black, 
in the year 1863, for the sum of £10,000, which enabled them to 
pay off the whole of the money remaining due on mortgage, which 
had been borrowed to effect the improvements in the river ; and 
and also to reclaim the two other marshes, containing together 
about 160 acres. These marshes were enclosed from the tidal 
waters by two embankments a mile and a half in length, the 
waters from the parish of Wyberton and the adjoining land being 



159 

discharged through a sluice built for that purpose in the Slippery 
Gowt embankment. The contract for the embankments was 
earned out by Mr. George Hackford, from the plans and under 
the direction of the author. A house and farmstead has also been 
erected on the smaller enclosure, and during the last two seasons 
the land has yielded large crops of wheat and other produce. 

The income of the Harbour Trustees is derived from the rent 
of these lands and other property, and from the dues, and on an 
average of the last three years has been as follows : — 

£ 8. d. 
Tonnage dues 738 

Wharfage dues 265 

Rent of land and warehouses 365 

Total £1368 

The average ordinary expenditure for the same period has 

been : — 

£ s.' d. 
Maintenance of buoys and beacons, less one third 

paid by Welland Trustees 418 

Repairs of buildings, wharfs, stages, &c 100 

Rates, taxes, and insurance 41 

Gas for lighting harbour 57 

Repairs and maintenance of river banks, fascine 

work, &c 100 

Salaries and office expenses 220 

Total £936 

From this it will be seen that the Trust has, on their ordinary 
expenditure, an excess of income over disbursements, and they 
have also power to increase the dues, which may be fairly 
calculated to raise the surplus to upwards of £800 a year, amply 
sufficient to cover the interest and re-payment of principal on a 
sum of money sufficient to complete the training of the river a 
distance of two miles below the present fascine work, or nearly 
to Elbow buoy. 

The various schemes which have been suggested for the 

-V 



160 

improvement of this part of the estuary will be fully treated in 
the next chapter ; and it will be found that the amounts required 
in each case are far too large to be entertained by any one Trust 
connected with the Witham, and have ever proved a complete 
drawback to their completion ; * but the plan proposed by the 
author of this work, and more fully treated in a former publica- 
tion, is one that appears to him to afiord all the improvement 
that is necessary for the purposes of navigation ; while it can be 
carried out at a cost, as shown, that comes within the means of 
the Trustees of the Harbour. 



* Remarks on the State of the Outfall of the River Witham, with suggestions for 
its improvement, 1867. 




BOSTON ADMIBALTY SEAL. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE ESTUARY, THE OUTFALL OP THE RIVERS WITHAM AND WELLAND, 
WITH AN ACCOUNT OP THE VARIOUS SCHEMES WHICH HAVE BEEN 
SUGGESTED FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT. 

The Estuary of the Witham and Welland is also the receptacle 
of the waters of the Nene and Ouse ; it forms a large indent or 
bay, lying between the coasts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, and is 
about three hundred square miles in extent : it has considerably 
decreased in size, about one hundred square miles of land having 
been reclaimed since the original embankments of the Romans. 
Mr. Chapman, in his " Facts and Remarks," gives it as his 
opinion " that there probably was a time, subsequent to the last 
great wreck of nature, when this estuary was nearly free from 
sand-banks ; and that the vast accretions of soil in and upon its 
margin owe their origin, in no small degree, to the alluvion of a 
large tract of land which the sea has carried away between Skeg- 
ness and Saltfleet, and also from the Norfolk coast." Whether 
this were the case or not the bay is now full of large beds of 
sand, rising to a height of ten or twelve feet above low water ; 
and although many of these sands retain the same position which 
they have done for a very long peried, others are continually 
shifting, from the effects of the tide and wind, and altering the 
many channels through which the waters find their way to the 
sea. 

That these sands have been formed by the alluvion of the lands 
from the neighbouring shores is highly probable. The coast 
north of Boston Deeps has been washed away to a considerable 
extent. At Sutton the sea is said to have advanced more than 



162 

seven miles, and at Mablethorpe the roots and trunks of many 
trees, and large stones (the supposed ruins of a church) are visible 
at low water a mile from the shore. The name of Skegnesse, the 
termination ** nesse" meaning a nose, or projection, would denote 
that at one time it projected beyond the line of coast into the sea; 
and Leland informs us "that this place was formerly a great 
haven town having a castle." 

The set of the tides on this coast running from north to south, 
and passing by and not directly through this estuary, naturally 
forms an eddy, and causes the soil and other matters brought with 
the tides to be deposited. Subsequent tides carry this deposit 
higher up the bay, and in course of time form large shoals and 
sand beds, this process being still further assisted by the mud 
and other deposit brought down the drains and rivers in times of 
flood. That the sand is gradually but slowly encroaching on the 
space now occupied by waters is an undisputed fact, and one for 
which there can be no cause for regret, provided only reasonable 
care be bestowed in training the channels of the river, as these 
sands may in time become reclaimable land. 

The Witham enters this estuary at the end of the new cut at 
Hobhole, and pursues a devious course in a southerly direction 
through shifting sands to the point known as the *' Elbow," where 
it is met by the Welland. The distance from Hobhole to the 
Elbow by the present course is about three miles, the channel 
varying in width from a quarter of a mile to a mile. On its east 
side is a hard bed of clay, called the Scalp, and on the west it is 
bounded by salt marshes lately enclosed. The course of the river 
through this channel varies with the strength of the ebb and flood 
tides ; in summer, when there is no fresh water issuing from the 
river, the flood tides prevail, and keep the channel to the east 
along the hard bed of clay composing the Scalp ; in winter, when 
heavy freshes are running down the river, the current opposite 



163 

Hobhole is driven from its natural course by a barrier erected for 
the purpose of sending the waters into Hobhole Sluice ; it then 
strikes against the embankment of the enclosed marsh, runs for a 
short distance along the scalp, from which it is reflected towards 
the west, gradually working its way by washing down the bed of 
sand, six to seven feet in height, thrown up in the summer months, 
till at the end of a wet season the channel will have altered its 
lateral course from three-quarters of a mile to one mile. At 
times it will vary as much as 80 to 100 feet in one tide. At the 
end of the scalp the Witham is joined by the Welland, which 
impinges on the waters of the Witham at a right angle, and 
diverts it from its natural course, causing the stream to turn in a 
north-easterly direction, and forming a long elbow ; the two 
streams combined continue together to deep water at Clayhole. 
Below this the streams again divide, the north channel running in a 
line parallel with the coast for about fifteen miles, past Freiston, 
Butterwick, Benington, Leverton, Leake, Wrangle, Friskney, and 
Skegness, where it passes out into the German Ocean ; it is 
divided from the other or south channel throughout its whole 
length by high beds of sand, the depth of water varying from 
about one and a half to six fathoms, and decreasing towards its 
exit at the Outer Knock buoy, where there is a bar mth only a 
depth of nine feet of water at low water spring tides. The width 
of the channel alters in nearly the same proportion, from a quarter 
of a mile to a mile and a quarter, but is contracted again at its 
outlet to about a quarter of a mile. 

The other channel, leaving the north-easterly direction a little 
below Clayhole, flows down what is termed *' the Maccaroni," 
making an acute angle with its former course ; and after running 
in this direction for a mile and three-quarters it doubles back up 
the Gat Channel into Lynn Well. The depth of water in the 
Maccaroni is from one to two fathoms, in the " Gat" it increases 



164 

to six fathoms, and continues deep water all through Lynn Weil, 
the bed of the estuary in places being as much as 18 fathoms 
below the surface of the water. The length of the north course 
is about 20 miles, and by the south, by vessels going in the same 
direction, is about seven miles longer. Through these two channels 
the greater part of the waters of the Witham and Welland have 
to flow before reaching the ocean. 

The present course of the waters of the Witham and Welland 
round the Elbow to Clayhole is not the ancient or natural course, 
but is caused by the two streams meeting at nearly right angles. 
The alterations which have been made during the last century in 
the Witham have been the means of withdrawing the back scour 
of the tidal waters, which used to have a free run for 20 miles or 
more up the river, and of the large reservoirs formed by the 
windings of the river and the creeks and sands which are now 
embanked marshes. The abstraction of water has considerably 
altered the strength of the Witham stream ; and the Welland, 
having still the free run of the tides, has to a certain extent pre- 
vailed over the larger river and driven it from its natural course. 
On reference to ancient plans and charts, and from information 
obtained from old sailors, it appears that the channel originally, 
after leaving the Scalp, continued with an easy curve in a south- 
easterly direction past the Herring Sand, through the Maccaroni, 
into Lynn Well. This is termed the old south channel, and was 
the regular course for vessels navigating the Deeps. It is still 
partially open, and is used by fishing- smacks and other vessels of 
light draught ; and through it a part of the waters of the Welland 
find their way to the sea. 

From this description of the estuary it will be obvious that the 
great obstruction of the free current of the dov/nfall waters is the 
great mass of shifting sands with which 'they have to contend. 
The channels continually varying as the sands are affected b^"- the 



165 

winds, the tides, or the floods, the waters exhaust their strength 

in forcing their way through them, and the power which should 

be employed in deepening and scouring is lost by the waters being 

spread over a wide surface instead of being concentrated in a 

single channel of uniform width. The better to illustrate this it 

may be mentioned that an ordinary tide will take three hours to 

reach Hobhole Sluice after it is flood in Clayhole, a distance by 

the present winding course of four and a half miles ; and as soon 

as it reaches the confined channel of the Witham, its speed increases 

to such an extent that it flows over the same distance of four and 

a half miles and reaches the Grand Sluice in less than one hour. 

The difference of level between Hobhole and Clayhole, in the 

year 1799, was three feet three inches, in a course of four miles, 

or nine and one-third inches per mile. In 1822 the course had 

lengthened to five and a half miles, and the waters were so much 

held up by the filling of the river with sands that the fall had 

increased to five feet two inches. The present rate of inclination 

in the surface of the water from Hobhole to Clayhole is about 

eight feet, or at the rate of twenty-one and one-third inches per 

mile. Spring tides rise 25 feet at Clayhole, and flow from four 

to five hours; neap tides rise about 16 feet. The semi-diurnal 

period, during which the state of the ebb will allow the discharge 

of the fen waters, is from five to six hours, dependent, of course, 

in a great measure, on the state of the haven. Spring tides ebb 

out at Clayhole about four feet lower than neap tides. The rise 

of the tide and the depth to which the ebb flows out is greatly 

affected by the wind. A strong north-west wind causes the tide 

to flow higher and longer ; a south-east wind, on the contrary, 

causing a bad tide. The winds will make a difference of from 

three to six feet in the height of the tides. 

A singular circumstance has long been noticed respecting 
certain tides in this estuary, called '* bird tides." These occur 



166 

annually about Midsummer, and are almost always mucli lower 
than others throughout the year ; leaving the green marshes on 
the borders of the estuary free from any visitation of the tidal 
waters, although covered by spring tides at all other seasons. 
The occurrence of these low tides about the time when the 
numerous sea and land birds that frequent these Marshes are 
hatching their eggs, thus giving them time to perfect that operation 
without the destructive intervention of the salt water, has caused 
the country people to say that "the tides are lower at that 
season in order that the birds may hatch and raise their young!" 
[Thompson.) 

Boston Deeps is often used as a harbour of refuge for vessels 
during north-east gales. When nearly the whole of the coals 
were carried from the north by colliers, these vessels used 
during storms, to take refuge in the Estuary ; and it is stated by 
persons residing near the coast, that they have seen from 
300 to 400 ships lying within a space of three miles off the coast 
between Freiston and Wrangle, and this was considered one of 
the safest anchorages in England during north-east gales. 

The Wash affords a very valuable fishing ground. The fish prin- 
cipally taken are soles, shrimps, herrings, sprats, mussels, oysters, 
and cockles ; smelts are occasionally found, and cod is caught in 
the deep water outside the Estuary. From 40 to 50 smacks are 
employed by the Boston fishermen, and as many by Lynn. 
These boats during the summer months are engaged in fishing 
for soles, shrimps, &c., and for the other nine months in 
gathering mussels. There are eight principal mussel scalps 
extending along the bay, within the Boston boundary, covering 
an area of from six to eight square miles ; and within the Lynn 
boundary there are ten scalps, of from eight to ten miles in extent. 
There are also beds on the Hunstanton coast, on the property of 
Mr. L'E strange. All the mussels required for bait for the 



167 

fishermen engaged in the deep sea line fisheries on the Northern 
coasts, are taken from these places and sent by railway to the 
various fishing ports. Thousands of tons are also sent to the 
manufacturing towns for food. The yield for nine months in the 
year has been estimated at from 80 to 140 tons of mussels for 
food, and from 80 to 120 tons for bait. In busy seasons, from 
£700 to £800 worth of mussels have been sent away in a week. 
The sum paid to the Railway Company for carriage from Boston 
alone, has been stated for one year at upwards of £3000. 

In 1859 the Corporation of Boston, in conjunction with Lynn, 
drew up and issued regulations for the protection of the fishery, 
and took steps to enforce their rules ; but it was ascertained that 
although their charters enabled them to issue regulations, there 
was no provision made for enforcing penalties, and consequently 
the orders of the bailiff were disregarded. The fishery is again 
carried on in the most destructive manner, and is being com- 
pletely ruined. 

From the evidence given before the fisheries' commission, 
which sat at Boston in 1863, it appears that previous to the 
appointment of the water bailiff by the corporation in 1859, the 
brood of mussels on the various sands in the deeps was almost 
exhausted. The fishermen raked them up large and small 
together, the riddlings being used for manure. Whole boat-loads 
of the young brood were carried to the Norfolk coast to put on 
the land. During the time the regulations of the Corporation 
were obeyed, these practices were stopped, and in two years' time 
the beds were again covered with mussels ; but as soon as it was 
found that the magistrates had no power to impose penalties, 
the destructive manner of fishing was resumed, and in 1868 it 
was reported that some of the richest beds had become completely 
exhausted, and the fishermen suffering from want of employment ; 

the supply of bait had ceased, causing very great distress to the 
w 



168 

population of the fishing towns and villages in the North. The 
same consequence has ensued with the oysters, shrimps, and 
soles. So serious was the matter felt to be, that the Northern 
fishermen sent a deputation to the Corporations of Boston and 
Lynn, praying them to take some steps to stop this sad waste ; 
this was seconded by a memorial to the Corporation of Boston, 
signed by 132 smack owners and fishermen belonging to the 
port, and in consequence the Corporation has applied to the 
Board of Trade for further powers to regulate the fisheries under 
the oyster and mussel fisheries Act of the present session. 

Having thus given a general description of the estuary, there 
will now follow a detailed account of the various schemes which 
have from time to time been brought forward for training the 
outfall of the rivers through a fixed channel and so facilitating 
their discharge, increasing the draught of water, and generally 
improving the drainage and navigation ; and also for reclaiming 
the vast tracts of Marsh lands on the coast of the estuary. 

The first scheme for the improvement of the outfall was that 
proposed by Mr. Nathaniel Kinderley in the year 1751. Advert- 
ing to the fact that even at that time the outfall waters of the 
Nene, the Ouse, the Witham, and the Welland, the four rivers 
which disembogue into the estuary, were seriously impeded by 
the shifting sands which were being continually washed about by 
the tides, he says, " But what do we propose to do with these 
pernicious sands ? Do we think to remove them ? No, certainly 
that would be quite an impracticable scheme; but though wo 
can't remove them, we may certainly desert them, and if we don't 
we may be assured that the sea in time will desert us,'' * 

* * He therefore proposed to bring 

the Nene into the Ouze by a new cut through Marsh land, these 
rivers when united to be carried to the sea under Wooton and 
Wolvcrton through the Marshes, and to discharge themselves 



169 

into the deeps by Snettisham. The Welland was to be taken 
by a new channel inland from about Fosdyke, in the direction of 
Wyberton, to the Witham, near Skirbeck Quarter, and the two 
rivers united to continue in a straight course through the country 
to some convenient place over against Wrangle or Friskney. 
The result of this he considered would be the entire silting up of 
the estuary and the gaining of 100,000 acres, the whole of which 
would become good land in the course of 50 years : "A new 
habitable country 15 miles long and from 8 to 10 in breadth." 
Across this new formed country he proposed that a road should 
be made connecting Lynn and Boston. The cost was estimated 
at £150,000, and Mr. Kindersley naively compares this amount 
with that being spent on the old Westminster Bridge, £400,000, 
and asks : " what is the convenience of this bridge compared to 
the gaining to the nation of a whole county ? '* 

Of all the schemes which have ever been brought forward, this 
is the most comprehensive and desirable, whether for navigation, 
drainage, or reclamation. The waters were to be carried in con- 
fined channels by the nearest route, direct into deep water ; and 
however much the cost may have been under-rated in the above 
estimate, it would have been less than the amount required for 
the erection of the immense length of barrier banks proposed in 
subsequent schemes, and the value of the land reclaimed would 
amply compensate the original outlay. 

In 1793, Captain Huddart was requested by Sir Joseph Banks 
to report as to whether an intended cut for bringing the Welland 
from its ancient course down to Spalding setway to join the 
Witham near Wyberton would injure the navigation to Boston, 
and in consequence he made a survey and report on the condition 
of the river at that time. Although liis facts were hastily obtained 
from pilots and others, and the report is stated by Mr. Chapman 
(writing on the subject soon after), *' as very erroneous and 



170 

founded upon a few questions made during a few hours view of 
part of the channel;" yet some of his observations are very 
practical, and are borne out to the letter by the present state of 
the river. Referring to the Scalp Reach, he says, " as those flat 
sands accumulate and grow higher they will be subject to raise the 
bed of the river, which will have a bad effect upon the navigation 
to Boston ; for by decreasing the fall the river will be too languid 
to clear away the silt, and in course of time, by imperceptible 
degrees, the navigation will be lost to the Scalp, the channel 
will be subject to vary, sometimes better and at other times worse, 
but upon the whole it is my opinion the sands will continue to 
increase." Having treated on the then state of the outfall, he 
gives his opinion decidedly that the navigation of Boston would 
not be rendered worse by the intended cut for the Welland to 
Wyberton, at a point nearly opposite Hobhole, and he further 
recommended that if this were carried out that the course of the 
waters of the Witham should be diverted from the south to the 
Clayhole or North Channel ; or otherwise that a cut should be 
made across the Scalp by the Milk-house in a right line extending 
from the intended junction into Clayhole, near where the present 
Pilot's-walk is (the preference being decidedly given to the latter 
plan), and that the united waters of the Witham and the Welland 
should be conveyed by this cut to deep water. 

This is the origin of the numerous plans which have been 
brought forward for *' cutting through the clays,'* but with this 
merit belonging to it which none of its successors have, that the 
Welland was to be united with the Witham at a point considerably 
higher up than their present course, and the two rivers were to 
flow through the new cut ; and so the waters of the united streams 
would be available for keeping the channel open. The author of 
the scheme admits that he never saw .the line of low water or took 
any soundings in Clayhole, but that his remarks are founded on 
information supplied to him. 



171 

In 1800 Mr. Rennie was directed by the Corporation *'to take 

a survey of Boston Haven, and to report his opinion on the best 

mode of improving the same." He commenced his report with 

the following remarks : — 

" The river Witham drains a very extensive tract of low and valuable land, 
the fall of which is so gentle, that if the seasons are in any material degree 
wet, it is with difficulty the water can be carried off sufficiently to enable the 
tenants to cultivate their lands to the best advantage. It is therefore no 
wonder, in so wet a season as 1799, so much of the land which drains through 
it should have been entirely inundated. It is true the drainage has been 
greatly improved in the course of these last fifty years, and Boston Haven 
has become considerably better ; but it is still so crooked, and the channel so 
wide, that no interior works can ever make it a good outfall. Unless, there- 
fore, art is judiciously appUed to assist nature in her operations, no mateiial 
improvements must be expected to arise, at least in any moderate time." 

After describing the different channels in the Deeps, and 

the conclusions he arrives at from his inspection of them, he 

proceeds : — 

" It is of great importance both for the drainage and navigation, that these 
rivers should be carried in a proper direction to deep water, in channels suffi- 
ciently wide and deep to carry off the freshes, and to confine the tide, but not 
so wide as to suffer them to wander along a flat shifting beach for many 
miles, finding their way to deep water in numberless dribbling streams as 
they now do, which can neither make nor maintain a good channel." 

To remedy this he proposed two plans, the one an entirely new 

cut; the other similar to that proposed by Captain Huddart. To 

quote the words of the report — the one to make a straight cut 

from Skirbeck Church to Clayhole of sufficient capacity for the 

river and navigation ; the other is to straighten and contract the 

present channel between Skirbeck and Hobhole, and to make 

thence a new cut, nearly in the direction laid down by Captain 

Huddart, to convey the water into Clayhole, throwing a dam 

across from Westmarsh Point to Hobhole Marsh. The expense 

of the first plan is estimated at £139,700, and the latter at 

£11 3,700 . By the first plan he calculated that eight hundred and 

twenty acres of land would be gained by the accretion of the soil, 



172 

three hundred and fifty of which were at the time salt marsh, and 

the remainder brown sand. By the latter plan seven hundred and 

sixty acres of land would be made available for reclamation, and 

of the estimate for this, d£41,270 was for the portion between 

Maud Foster and Hobhole, and £72,430 for the continuation to 

Clayhole. Mr. Rennie concludes his report with the following 

remarks : — 

" The improvements I have stated are confined to the channel below 
Skirbeck church ; but when this is done, I think it will be found advantageous 
to make some improvements above ; perhaps even to construct wet docks in 
some suitable situation. This, however, will be an after consideration, but 
ought nevertheless to be kept in view ; and if some mode could be devised of 
establishing an accumulating fund for the purpose of repairing and improving 
the harbour, these different matters might be resumed as the wants of the 
trade should require." 

In 1822 Sir John Rennie, by direction of a general meeting of 
all the trusts interested in the drainage and navigation, made an 
examination of the river, and a chart and survey, accompanied 
by levels and soundings, was prepared by Mr. Giles. In a very 
able and complete report, in which full particulars are given of 
the then state of the river and its outfall, the causes of the 
impediments to the navigation and drainage, and the remedies 
necessary to be applied for their removal, he recommends that 
the river, from the Black Sluice to Maud Foster, should be 
confined by jetties, and that from Maud Foster a straight cut 
should be made to Hobhole, adopting the old river course, where 
available, by training it by fascine work. This cut was to have a 
bottom of 80 feet at its commencement, increasing 25 feet in 
width for every mile, and to be excavated to a depth at Maud 
Foster of four feet below Hobhole cill, and increasing to five feet 
at Hobhole. The estimated cost was £117,190. He further 
recommended a continuation of this cut in the same proportion 
to Clayhole, and following nearly the same direction, as recom- 
mended by Captain Huddart and Mr. Rennie. 



173 

This cut was to be in a curvilinear form, bending round the 
corner where the present Milk-house Farm stands, the site of the 
present house being about the centre of the new cut, and then 
across the salt marshes and sands to the pilots' boat berth in Clay- 
hole. The estimated cost of this part of the scheme was £118,467, 
the estimate for the complete plan being £235,658. The advan- 
tages to arise from this outlay were, that the course of the river 
would be shortened one third, and an increased declination of 
nearly twelve inches per mile thereby effected between the Black 
Sluice and Hobhole. In his report he views other plans which 
have suggested themselves, but gives this the preference as being 
economical and interfering less with existing works, and states 
that " if at any future time a dock should be required, a cut for 
the river could be made across to St. John's Sluice, and the old 
circuitious channel converted into a spacious basin of thirty acres 
with proper locks," &c. This would have involved the removal 
of the Black Sluice a quarter of a mile below Maud Foster, the 
cost of which would be £120,000. As to the question of the 
necessity of carrying out the whole of the works at once he further 
remarks, *'The scheme, however, may with propriety terminate at 
Hobhole ; and if found insufficient, it may be continued to Clay- 
hole at any future period : by that time I hope that the parties 
connected with the river Welland, animated by a like just i^ard 
for their own interest as the parties connected with the Witham, 
will come forward and join them in completing this useful and 
important enterprise by carrying the united waters of the two 
rivers into Clayhole." 

Unfortunately this advice was not acted upon, and conse- 
quently the improvement of the outfall has been left a legacy to 
the present day. In the following year Sir John Rennie was 
again called in, and at the same time Mr. Telford was also 
consulted. Mr. Telford, in a report dated March 22nd, 1823, 



174 

addressed to the several trusts interested in the drainage and 
navigation, prefaces his remarks by saying ** that the state of 
the haven is so apparent that it is quite superfluous to enter upon 
any detailed description of it." He traces the existing defects 
to the following causes : — First, and chiefly, to the obstruction 
caused by the Grand Sluice in preventing the tidal waters from 
flowing further up than the town of Boston. Secondly, carrying 
the drainage water on the fen lands on the eastern side of the 
river down towards Hobhole. Thirdly, sufiering the river to form 
a crooked and wide channel by cutting away the marsh land, and 
becoming encumbered with mud and sand banks. To remedy 
the third cause he proposed a new cut from the Black Sluice 
across Bell's Beach to Hobhole, the expense of which he estimated 
at £106,846, and he states that " he proposed this scheme with 
the more confidence, because if the outfall even after this new 
channel has been made should fall into decay, still a new channel 
may then be extended from Hobhole to Clayhole." He concludes 
his report with the words, " I consider the above only a portion 
of the general improvement which may be executed for the 
drainage and navigation, but I again beg leave to repeat that I am 
convinced that this or any other measure must remain a temporary 
expedient unless the Grand Sluice is removed, and a free flux and 
reflux of tidal waters admitted, and I am anxious to impress upon 
all parties interested the imperious necessity of maintaining a 
perfect outfall." 

Sir John Rennie's report bears the same date : he refers to his 
former one, and confirms the opinion therein expressed ; he gives 
his sanction to the plan proposed by Mr. Telford, provided that 
Maud Foster Sluice is removed, involving a further expense 
beyond Mr. Telford's estimate of £18,564. He entirely concurs 
in Mr. Telford's remarks about the Grand Sluice, and concludes 
by *' anxiously impressing upon all parties interested the neces- 



175 

sity of making and maintaining a perfect outfall, without which 
all interior works are useless." 

In 1837 a meeting of all parties interested in the drainage and 
navigation through the river Ouze and Lynn Deeps was held in 
London, and Sir John Eennie was directed to make a survey and 
report as to the best means of improving the same, and making 
it thoroughly effective. Accordingly he commenced his survey in 
the following year, but it was not completed till the summer of 
1839. In his report he gives a short account of the various 
works which have been already carried out for the improvement 
of the Ouze, the last of these being executed from the plans and 
under the direction of his father, who being employed to make a 
general survey of the fens, ascribed the cause of the evil to the 
obstructed state of the Outfall of the river Ouze, which he pro- 
posed to obviate by the celebrated Eau Brink Cut, previously 
planned about the year 1791, and completed by him in 1818. 
This cut is three miles long, and shortened the course of the old 
liver two and a half miles. Low water mark fell at Lynn as soon 
as the work was completed five feet, and subsequently two feet 
more. The reduction in the height of low water line by this work 
and the cut made by Kindersley, in 1773, being 10 feet 6 inches. 
The total cost of this and other improvements was ^600,000, and 
the quantity of land benefitted 280,000 acres. 

Sir John Rennie suggested that one general scheme for the 
improvement of the whole of the Estuary was far preferable to 
partial measures ; he therefore recommended that the channels of 
the four rivers should be confined by fascine work, and be led to 
one common outlet, and that the land should be embanked as it 
accreted. Referring to the two rivers which are the subject of 
this treatise,l.he remarked that the Welland and Witham outfalls, 
particularly the former, were then in a very defective state : he 
suggested that they might be improved by either carrying them 

X 



176 

across the clays into Clayhole, or by the Maccaroni or south 
channel, to join the Nene and the Ouze ; the advantage of the 
former plan being that the distance to deep water would be con- 
siderably shorter, and in consequence it would be sooner effected ; 
and that custom had hitherto pointed out Boston Deeps as the 
natural entrance or roadstead both for the Witham and the 
Welland. On the other hand, looking forward to one general 
grand plan, and the prospect of maintaining the general outfall 
open, he thought that there could be little doubt that the greater 
the body or mass of fresh and tidal water that could be brought 
into one channel, the better and the greater the certainty of its 
being able to maintain itself open. In order to effect this enlarged 
view of the subject, the junction of the Witham and the Welland, 
the Nene and the Ouze, into one common outfall, in the centre 
of the Great Wash, appeared the best and most certain plan ; and 
that if the Witham and the Welland were to be carried separately 
into Clayhole channel, the Nene into Lynn Well, and the Ouze 
along the Norfolk shore, there would have been a far greater 
quantity of embankments to make, the channels by being separate 
would not have been able to maintain themselves open so well, 
the land gained would have been divided into several separate 
islands, which would have rendered it more difficult of access, and 
and consequently reduced its value, whilst the expense of acquir- 
ing it would have been greater ; and lastly, the boundaries of the 
counties of Lincoln and Norfolk would have been disturbed. 

The estimated quantity of land that would be gained by the 
union of the four rivers in one common outfall was 150,000 acres. 
This he estimated as being worth, in a few years, £40 per acre, 
or a total of £6,000,000, and after deducting £12 per acre for 
the expense of obtaining the greater portion, and £15 per acre 
for that portion lying nearest to the open ocean, would have 
amounted to the sum of £2,000,000, leaving a clear gain of 



177 

£4,000,000. This report was presented to a meeting held in 
London in July, 1839, of which Lord George Bentinck was 
chairman ; and it was then resolved, after adopting Mr. Rennie's 
report, and expressing the desirability of carrying on the work, 
** That the execution of the same must necessarily exceed the 
means of private individuals, and ought therefore to receive grave 
consideration and the eventual support of her Majesty's Govern- 
ment as a purely national object." And further, that although 
it appeared that great improvements would be made in the various 
rivers and drainage of land, ** The promoters of the undertaking 
do not feel it necessary to call either upon the landowners or 
the parties interested in the navigation for any contribution in 
the shape of tax or tonnage duty, but will rest satisfied with the 
reimbursements of their expenses by the acquisition of the land 
they expect to reclaim from the sea." 

It must be a matter of the most sincere regret that this scheme, 
so ably planned and so warmly taken up, should have been 
allowed to fall to the ground. The advantages that would have 
accrued to the fen country would have been immense, and the 
increased produce obtained from the conversion of 150,000 acres 
of barren sands into good land, and from the improved drainage 
of 900,000 acres of fen country, cannot be regarded otherwise 
than as a national benefit. By this great undertaking not only 
would the navigation of the ports of Lynn, Wisbech, and Boston 
have been greatly improved, and the whole drainage of the fens 
vastly benefitted, and large sums of money saved which have 
since been spent on the erection of steam engines and works of 
interior drainage, but the whole was to be accomplished without 
tax or burden of any kind being imposed on the landowners. 

It was not probable that so valuable a scheme should have 
been allowed to drop without a struggle, and twelve years after- 
wards it was revived in a modified and much reduced shape. A 



178 

company was formed, called the *' Lincolnshire Estuary Com- 
pany," and an Act of Parliament obtained in 1851, " for reclaim- 
ing from the sea certain lands abutting on the coast of Lincoln- 
shire within the parts of Holland." The capital was JB600,000, 
to be raised by 24,000 shares of £25 each, and power was given 
to reclaim and embank the marsh lands adjacent to the rivers 
Witham, Welland, and Nene. The exact line of the new banks 
was : First, from a point near the sea bank at the lower end of the 
Nene outfall, in Long Sutton, and along the western bank of the 
Nene to Clayhole, and thence in a south western direction up the 
Welland to Fosdyke bridge. Second, commencing at the northern 
end of Fosdyke bridge, to continue down the Welland to the west 
side of Clayhole, and then curving in a western direction and 
continuing to the new cut end in the Witham, opposite Hobhole. 
Third, commencing at Hobhole sluice, and continuing in a south- 
easterly direction for one-and-a-half miles, and then curving in 
an easterly direction to the west side of Clayhole, and continuing 
along the channel for eight miles, and joining the old sea bank in 
the parish of Wrangle. The quantity to be enclosed was 30,000 
acres. The owners of the marshes adjoining the lands to be 
vested in the company were to contribute towards the expense of 
making the banks, and the sum agreed on between the principal 
proprietors and the company was £8 15s. per acre of marsh land. 
The navigation and drainage of the Witham and Welland were to 
be improved by new cuts and outfalls, but the company was not 
to have any power or control in the management of the outfall. 

Like its predecessor this scheme was only bom to die. So 
many obstacles presented themselves from the scarcity of money 
at the time the scheme was brought out, and the difficulty of 
determining the rights and boundaries of the old freeholders, and 
the small assistance that was offered by those most to be benefitted, 
that the company preferred to lose all their preliminary expenses 



179 

rather than proceed with the work. The time allowed by the 
Act for the completion of the work has now expired. 

In the year 1861, Mr. Frow, of Holbeach, who has taken a 
great interest in the improvement of the drainage of the Fens', 
addressed letters to the public press, and subsequently in a com- 
munication made to the Boston Harbour Trustees, called attention 
to the South Channel as the proper outfall for the waters of the 
Witham and Welland, and he proposed that the two rivers should 
be trained by fascine work across the numerous beds of sands 
which lie at the entrance to the deeps into Lynn Well, in pre- 
ference to the diversion of the waters across the scalp by the 
proposed cut to Clayhole, and also pointed out what he considered 
the defects of the latter scheme. 

The season of 1860 having been unusually wet caused a great 
quantity of the low lands to be flooded, considerably injuring the 
crops throughout the Fens. The attention of the parties interested 
was once more aroused to the defective state of the Outfall, and 
the necessity of taking active steps for its improvement. The 
proprietors of lands in the East Fen being the greatest suiBferers, 
the Witham Commissioners directed their engineer, the late Mr. 
Lewin, to make a report on the state of the whole district. 
Mr, Lewin's report gives some valuable statistics of facts and 
observations made by him of the state of the Outfall, and of the 
great improvement that could be efiected by contracting and 
shortening the channel between Hobhole and deep water. He 
recommended the adoption of the plan laid out by Sir John 
Rennie for a circular cut across Hobhole Marsh to Clayhole, and 
in the upper part of the river the removal of the Grand Sluice, 
and the deepening of the bed of the Witham from Boston to 
Bardney. 

A consideration of Mr. Lewin's report induced the Witham 
Commissioners to consult Mr. Hawkshaw, C.E. Under this 



180 

gentleman's direction the levels of the land and principal drains 
in the East and West Fens were taken, and observations made as 
to the condition of the outfall ; and with these data to guide him, 
on the 29th of June, 1861, Mr. Hawkshaw made his report to 
the Commissioners, dividing the subject for consideration into 
two heads, the one comprising a plan for the improvement of the 
drainage of the East Fen alone, and the other, while it should 
effect the improvement of this district, should at the same time 
be more general in its application. With reference to the second 
plan, Mr. Hawkshaw gives it as his opinion that the project which 
had been recommended so frequently and for so long a period of 
time, viz., of forming a new cut to Clay hole, is the best as a 
general plan, as it would not only assist the drainage of the 
Fourth District, but would also improve the outfall of all the 
great drains which empty themselves into the Witham, and that 
it would benefit the navigation to and from the port of Boston. 
That the construction of this new channel for the Witham into 
Clayhole would involve the necessity of extending the Welland 
to a junction with it at the same point. The report further states 
that " In estimating the cost of the work I see no reason at 
present for departing from the dimensions that have been fixed 
by previous investigation and enquiry. They seem from such 
enquiry as I have been able to bestow upon them to have been 
judiciously determined, and they appear on former occasions to 
have received the sanction of the representatives of the different 
interests concerned. I have therefore assumed that the bottom 
of the cut opposite , to Hobhole Sluice will be 3 feet below the 
cill of that sluice, and that the width of bottom at that point will 
be 100 feet ; the bottom to have a regular fall of one foot per 
mile from its commencement to its termination at Clayhole, the 
slopes of the sides of the cut to be four feet and a half horizontal 
to one perpendicular, to a height of twenty feet above the cill of 



181 

Hobhole Sluice, the foreland to be seventy feet in width. The 
extension of the river Welland should start at the end of the 
fascine work now completed, and should fall uniformly to its 
junction with the Witham at Clayhole. I estimate the cost of 
the work as under : — The Boston outfall, £80,000 ; the Welland 
outfall, £20,000 ; Parliamentary and engineering, say £15,000 ; 
— £115,000. It has been estimated by engineers who have pre- 
ceded me that the extension to Clayhole would depress the low 
water flood level about three feet at Hobhole. It is possible that 
this will be the result. I am of opinion that a depression of that 
level to the extent of two feet can very safely be reckoned upon 
as a minimum at all the before- mentioned sluices. Were the 
depression of the flood level not to exceed that dimension it would 
effect a general improvement of all the districts drained through 
those sluices ; but as regards the navigation of Boston I am of 
opinion that a still greater amount of benefit would be derived, 
inasmuch as the low water of the river in dry weather would be 
depressed to a greater extent than the low water of the river in 
time of floods, and the channel would be scoured to an equivalent 
depth : while it is mainly on the depression of the low water level 
in the time of floods that drainage depends, the navigation will 
have the advantage of the former. This plan would also improve 
the navigation of, and the drainage into, the river Welland. 
* * * From all that I have read and 

thought on the subject it seems probable that the sands in the 
upper part of the estuary are steadily though slowly accumulating 
and encroaching on the sea. The evil effects of this can be 
counteracted only by training and straightening the rivers that 
empty themselves into the estuary, and by pushing them forward 
as the sea retires. The extension of the channels of the main 
outfall is therefore a step in the right direction, and would be a 
permanent step as far as it goes. Should the landowners gener- 



182 

filly not join you in the more comprehensive and general measure, 
I see nothing for it but to advise you to expend your money on 
the minor and internal scheme ; but looking to the future such a 
step would have to be regretted. Funds that otherwise might 
have helped to carry out the general measure will be lost to it 
when the time shall arrive when all who are interested in keeping 
open the outfall upon which so large a tract of rich land, and so 
much valuable property, has been made to depend, will be driven 
to act vigorously to secure its existence." 

At a meeting of the General Commissioners of Drainage for 
the river Witham, resolutions were passed adopting the principles 
laid down in Mr. Hawkshaw's report, and the Fourth District 
agreed to contribute towards a general scheme such a sum, esti- 
mated at one shilling per acre, as it would cost them to carry out 
the alternative scheme for the internal improvement of their own 
district, provided the other Trusts would at once join them in 
carrying out the outfall works proposed by Mr. Hawkshaw. Very 
strenuous efforts were made to induce all the interested parties to 
join in one general scheme, and a large meeting was held at the 
Guildhall, Boston, of representatives from the several Drainage 
Trusts and the Boston Harbour Commissioners ; but while the 
necessity of an improved outfall, and the desirability of at once 
attempting the necessary works for ensuring it, was freely 
admitted, there seemed to be insuperable diflSiculties in reconciling 
the interests of the several Trusts, and the rate at which they 
should contribute towards the expense, and nothing was finally 
determined. 

Foreseeing this difficulty, and relying on the very strong feeling 
existing at the time in favour of an improved drainage and 
navigation, a Bill was promoted by Mr. Thomas Wise, a gentle- 
man who has been most indefatigable in his endeavours to bring 
about the improvement of the outfall, and other independent 



183 

gentlemen deeply interested in the drainage and navigation, and 
the necessary Parliamentary notices were given for the session of 
1861, but the matter was postponed till the following year, when 
an amended Bill was drawn up, intituled " a Bill to authorize 
the making of new outfalls for the rivers Witham and Welland, 
for improving the drainage by those rivers, and for other pur- 
poses." The object of the promoters, and the scope of the Bill, 
cannot be better explained than by the following quotation from 
a circular issued at the time : — 

" The necessity for improving the drainage of the districts bordering on 
the rivers Witham and Welland, has been demonstrated for years past, and 
the evil effects of procrastination is experienced in the great and serious 
losses occasioned to the agriculturists on every visitation of those heavy rains 
which periodically fall in this locaUty. Throughout the country great efforts 
are now being made to secure practical measures for perfecting on an extensive 
scale an improved system of outfall drainage. With this object the Middle 
Level, the Nene, and the Hatfield Chase Drainage Districts are all seeking 
enlarged Parliamentary powers. The abundance and cheapness of capital, 
coupled with an increased disposition on the part of capitalists to advance 
large sums at a moderate rate of interest on the security of drainage rates 
particularly marks the present as the proper time for making strenuous efforts 
to utilize the resources and capabilities of the districts and to turn to useful 
purposes the practical experience and suggestions of those whose valuable 
time has been directed to an improved measure of drainage. With this view 
it appears desirable to prescribe and carry out a drainage scheme adapted to 
the requirements of the district, with such useful modification as may be 
suggested, and so defined as to insure the greatest amount of benefit consistent 
with the least possible expense. This is proposed to be done by a Bill to be 
submitted to Parliament in the ensuing session, embracing powers for carrying 
out a plan similar to the general plan suggested by Mr. Hawkshaw, with such 
alterations as may be deemed expedient, and for reclaiming about 15,000 acres 
of marsh lands by cutting through the clays on Boston Scalp and conveying 
the Witham and Welland waters direct to the sea, thus shortenint^ the 
distance three and a half miles, increasing the fall about six feet, and giving 
to the fens and uplands of Lincolnshire a most perfect and complete drainage. 
The entire cost of the works, including every expense, is estimated at 
£100,000. This charge is intended to be met by a rate or assessment upon 
the Commissioners and Trusts in the proportions following or as near thereto 
as may seem just and equitable : — The 4th District of Drainage by the river 
Witham, 62,276 acres, at ll^d. per acre, £3000 ; the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 
Y 



184 

6th Districts, 65,381 acres, at 2d. per acre, £500 ; the Welland, 34,41G 
acres, at 4d. per acre, £500 ; the Black Sluice, 46,215 acres, at 3d. per acre, 
£500 ; the Harbour of Boston on the dues of the port, £500 ;— £5000. The 
above charge is to remain for thirty years, when if the reclaimed land is in a 
condition to sell, and the Commissioners effect a sale at a price reasonably 
estimated at £20 per acre, the sum produced from that source would on the 
whole 15,000 acres be very considerable. (The Harbour Commissioners of 
Boston have lately sold reclaimed land of the same character after 30 years 
accretion at £30 per acre.) It is proposed to appropriate the sum produced as 
follows : — First, In repayment of the monies borrowed ; secondly, dividing 
the residue into three parts, two thereof to be handed over to the contributing 
Commissioners, and the other to be divided between the Harbour Trustees of 
Boston and the Trustees of the Welland. Should Parliament require 
provision to be made for a sinking fund, this can be done on the basis of 
repaying the borrowed monies in a period of thirty-five or forty years, but 
this would be unnecessary in the case of the reclaimed lands being realised as 
suggested. The Act is intended to be carried out by Commissioners to be 
appointed as follows : — By theWitham District, 14; Black Sluice, 2; Welland, 
2 ; Boston Harbour, 2 — total 20. The Fourth District Commissioners by the 
river Witham having called in the services of Mr. Hawkshaw, whose very able 
and explanatory report, with certain suggestions they have adopted, it has been 
considered desirable to follow up as far as practicable the recommendations 
therein contained, and for that purpose to ask the co-operation of the landed 
proprietors and others interested in the drainage, and to seek for such aid 
and information as may enable the parties interested to perfect a measure 
calculated to carry out this great and necessary work, which has never for so 
many years past been attempted, and the want of which annually entails such 
grievous losses on the district." 

The promoters of this measure, after spending a consider- 
able sum of money in preparing the necessary Parliamentary 
notices, and paying the other expenses incidental to obtaining an 
Act of Parliament, finding that they were not likely to receive that 
support from the landowners and others who would derive the 
benefit of their exertions, were obliged to withdraw their Bill, and 
so the outfall scheme seemed doomed to be again deferred till 
some greater necessity than had yet arisen should compel its 
adoption. After this, several of the merchants, shipowners, and 
traders of Boston, despairing of any improvement being ever 
efiected in the river, and suffering from the continual lightening 



185 

of the ships of their cargoes by barges, in order to enable them 
to reach the town, conceived the idea of carrying a railway from 
Boston to Freiston Shore, and there constructing a harbour where 
ships could lay at all times of the tide in deep water. The scheme 
also included the reclamation of all that valuable tract of marsh 
land lying adjacent to the coast at that part of the estuary. 
Owing to the opposition of the Drainage Trusts, and want of 
adequate support, the bill for the railway was withdrawn before 
the second reading, but the reclamation was proceeded with, and 
the powers therein obtained are still in existence, although no 
steps have yet been taken to carry out the scheme. 

The dry summer of 1864, having landed up the river to such 
an extent that its bed was raised from ten to eleven feet at the 
town, and very great inconvenience and loss being experienced 
by those engaged in the trade of the port, at a quarterly meeting 
of the Harbour Commissioners held on the 27th of October, 1864, 
a memorial was presented by Mr Thomas Wise, " signed by the 
bankers, merchants, tradesmen, and shipowners of Boston, 
requesting that the trust would immediately take steps to improve 
the outfall and state of the Haven," and in accordance with the 
prayer of the memorial, the Commissioners resolved that Mr. 
Hawkshaw should be consulted and requested to frame a report 
upon the state of the Haven, and to recommend the best means 
for its improvement. 

Mr. Hawkshaw made his report on the 23rd of December 
following, in which he states that the condition of the Haven on 
his examination was worse than he had before seen it. " That 
outside the doors of the Grand Sluice there was an accumulation 
of mud and sand ten to eleven feet in height above the cill. The 
water in the drain then standing about seven feet six inches 
above the cill, so that the mud outside was about three feet 
higher than the surface of the water inside, and that the condi- 



186 

tion of the river at the other sluices was equally bad in propor- 
tion." And this being the state of the Haven, he gives his 
recommendation for its improvement in the following words : — 
'* There are two works which, if both were executed, would effect 
the greatest amount of improvement in Boston Harbour, viz. 
First, to cut a new channel from Hobhole to Clayhole. Second, 
to remove the Grand Sluice and allow the tide to ebb and flow in 
the Upper Witham." 

Mr. Hawkshaw's observations with regard to the first part of 
this plan have been already given. With reference to the second 
he remarks " The removal of the Grand Sluice would still further 
improve the Harbour by allowing a large quantity of water to 
flow into the channel, the reflux of which would increase the 
scouring power. This measure would require the sanction of 
the Commissioners for Drainage by the River Witham, and of 
the Great Northern Railway Company. It is not improbable 
that due consideration and enquiry, which would however require 
time, might lead these bodies to see nothing incompatible with 
their interests in that measure." Beyond obtaining this report 
no further action was at this time taken in the matter. 

In the autumn of 1866, the attention of those interested in the 
outfall was once more aroused by the Fourth District Commis- 
sioners, despairing of any general measure being carried out, 
taking active steps to adopt the alternative plan recommended by 
Mr. Hawkshaw for the erection of pumping engines to lift the 
water off the lowlands in the East Fen. A strenuous effort was 
made to prevent, if possible, the diversion of funds to this 
purpose, which otherwise might be available for outfall works. 
There being no prospect of carrying out any of those large measures 
which had already been brought forward, owing to the difiiculty 
of raising the necessary capital, a modified plan was suggested by 
the author of this work, in his capacity as surveyor to the 



187 

Harbour Trustees, which consisted in simply continuing the 
present fascine work for a distance of about two miles in the 
direction of Elbow Buoy, and so confining the channel in one 
course, the object being to direct both the flood and ebb tides in 
one direction, and to prevent the constant shifting of the stream 
amongst the sands which lie between Hobhole and the confluence 
of the Witham with the Welland. The effect of this training 
would be the more rapid discharge of the flood waters in winter ; 
the scouring and deepening of the channel throughout its whole 
length ; the depression of the low water mark on the cills of the 
several sluices; and the formation of the shifting sands into 
agricultural land. For the greater part of the distance the 
training would only be required on one side, the estimated cost 
of the work being £12,000. 

The Harbour Trustees called in the assistance of Mr. James 
Abernethy, C.E., to report on the feasibility, and the advantage 
to be derived from the plan proposed by their surveyor, and that 
gentleman, in evidence subsequently given before a committee of 
the House of Lords, gave it his thorough sanction and support ; 
but he also advised the dredging of the clay out of the channel 
between the Elbow Buoy and Clayhole, which, with some other 
additional works, raised the estimate to £20,000. 

The experience gained from the training carried out in all the 
other Fen rivers, is sufficient to warrant the expectation of most 
favourable results from this plan, which has also the merit of the 
approval of those interested in the river Welland, whereas the 
larger scheme could not be carried out without a large expendi- 
ture of money on the part of the trustees of that river, and 
although calculated to effect a great improvement, owing to the 
increased taxation which would be rendered necessary, would 
meet with strenuous opposition on their part. 

The present abundant supply of money in the market, and the 



188 

diflficnlty of finding profitable investments, appears a seasonable 
opportunity for reviving some of those extended schemes for 
reclamation of the waste land in the Estuary, and at the same 
time improving the outfall of the rivers. It seems an anomaly 
that while the country is very largely dependent on foreign 
supplies of corn and cattle, every possible efibrt should not be 
made to utilize every available acre of land. There are thousands 
of acres of land in England, which, like the marshes in this 
estuary, might at a less amount of money than is paid for freights 
of foreign grain, be turned into rich corn lands and pasture. 
The scheme laid out by Mr. Kindersley, and afterwards brought 
forward in a modified form by Sir John Rennie, for enclosing the 
whole of the Wash, and thus reclaiming 150,000 acres of waste 
space, is one worth the attention of the Government of the 
country. The example set by the Romans of old, who employed 
their soldiers, assisted by convict labour, in forming the embank- 
ments by which the Fens are protected, might well be imitated 
in the present day. But whether executed by public or private 
enterprise, there cannot be a doubt that it is high time some 
steps should be taken to reclaim this valuable tract of land. 




I 



